Why is the Coronavirus so Contagious ?
April 20, 2020
The Coronavirus has shown very contagious, currently passing 2.4
million cases worldwide since it was discovered late December
2019 in Wuhan, China where the first dozen cases emanated.
By January 30th, the
WHO declared a global emergency, Trump restricted travel from
China, and the first death outside of China was reported on
February 2nd.
On February 5th the
Diamond Princess cruise ship reported 218 cases. In the third
week of February, Italy saw a major surge in new cases, Trump
asked Congress for a $1.25 billion response package, and the
Diamond Princess cruise ship now reported 621 persons infected.
A week later, the first U.S. death was reported and the CDC
(Center for Disease Control) approved a program of widespread
coronavirus testing.
From there, a historical pandemic continued to ravage
the world, totaling a million cases on April 2nd and
then a 2nd million on April 15th.
Why is the Coronavirus so contagious ? If COVID-19 isn’t known
to be more powerful than other viruses, what makes it different
?
It is because it is new, or “novel”. We have no pre-existing
defenses against the Coronavirus, so the human body does not
recognize it as an intruder. According to Dr. Pastula of
UCHealth in Colorado:
Imagine an old, walled medieval town. If this virus were a
disguised attacker arriving at the town’s protective walls, but
open gates, the guards would not immediately know to be
suspicious. With this coronavirus, it’s as if the guardians of
our cells have kept the gates open and let the coronavirus in
without immediately recognizing its danger.
The virus gets in and hijacks the cells. It overrides the
cell’s normal programming and turns it into a machine to make
more of the virus. “The virus is simply a blueprint or a code to
turn cells into machines to make more virus”. Perhaps
illustrations from
the New York Times may help visualize how the Coronavirus
attacks cells.
Although this explains the sadly defenseless mechanism taking
place when coronavirus enters the body, how are people catching
the virus in the first place ?
It
appears organizations such as the WHO or CDC iterate a general
rule for how the virus is being transmitted to humans:
The new coronavirus is a respiratory virus which spreads
primarily through droplets generated when an infected person
coughs or sneezes, or through droplets of saliva or discharge
from the nose.
This accounts for a six-foot distancing rule imposed on the
general public, but does not really explain the exponential
surge in cases like we have observed. Although major health
organizations continually instruct to wash hands frequently,
they don’t entirely explain why. For example, very little is
mentioned about “fomite transmission”.
A fomite is any inanimate object, such as a door knob, which
when contaminated or exposed to infectious disease can transfer
the disease to a new host. Common fomites are cups, spoons,
pencils, .., bath faucet handles, toilet flush levers, door
knobs, light switches,.., handrails, elevator buttons,
television and stereo controls, pens, touch screens,.., cell
phones, keyboards, computer mice, coffeepot handles,.., and
countertops. 1 More could be added to this list and
become quite lengthy. Most likely all these many fomites were
not mentioned to prevent paranoia. Yet, what is fair
information for the public ?
Another repeated insinuation is that the Coronavirus is not
transmitted through the air. Infection by airborne
particles is sometimes called aerosol transmission. Health
groups contend it is only thru droplets, such as when somebody
sneezes your way at a distance under six feet. But what starts
as droplets from somebody’s cough soon evaporates into the air
as it is falling to the ground. From the time a droplet was
ejected from a cough, it is half the size when it hits the floor
- the other half evaporated into air - and is now airborne.
Further, the virus can “hitch-a-ride” onto a fine dust particle
and the 3-hour rule for airborne viruses is no longer true. It
can take a ride for three days. But dust particles commonly
contain bacteria, and if the virus is at all compatible to the
bacteria, it could sustain itself and carry on indefinitely.
A coronavirus particle "hitches-a-ride" onto a common dust
particle while
traveling through the air.
There is another reasonably simple explanation. Recall when you
walk out into the cold air, and when you exhale, you “see your
breath”. Because of the relative temperature difference, you
see your exhalation in the form of steam or vapor. It does this
all year round when you exhale, you just don’t see it unless it
is cold. Now think of a person infected by the Coronavirus, and
when he or she exhales outdoors they are releasing vapor from
their infected lungs into the air. Multiply this by the number
of persons with COVID-19 and see what you come up with. You
should realize there is an aersol of Coronavirus swirling in all
directions in the outdoors, just not so concentrated. It is
probably safe to assume that you will be okay on your trip to
the store - the time spent outside is so brief. But what about
spending several hours in the outdoors ? Will longer times
outside make you more vulnerable to contracting the virus ?
Breath exhalations into the cold air, including animals, will
show visible as vapor. Exhalations occur year round
expelling the air from our lungs, even when infected.
So now there is airborne transmission with the Coronavirus.
This more completely explains the contagion phenomena and
accounts for why the Coronavirus became a world pandemic,
although nobody said much about how this actually occurred.
This most likely has to do with “pandemic politics”.
Coronavirus stirring in the air is possibly too scary to
exclaim to the whole world at once. It is better to impart it a
little bit at a time. In fact, there are now several reports
verifying the very same issues as stated in this article. And
the WHO, in collaboration with the 3M Company, has admitted
airborne transmission of COVID-19 (see
3M Technical Bulletin 1791123O):
The WHO has confirmed that aerosol transmission is a possible
transmission pathway of SARS-CoV-2. WHO has published guidance
intended for healthcare workers (HCWs), healthcare managers, and
teams working in infection prevention and control. WHO
recommends that eye protection (goggles or a face shield) be
used during patient contact along with gloves, a medical mask,
and a fluid-resistant gown. Airborne precautions, including an
N95, FFP2, or equivalent respirator, should be used during
aerosol-generating procedures.
But this is not meant to scare the public since it is only a
matter of precaution. The small amount of coronavirus in the
air over a short time is what most people could be immune to,
since the viral load is so low. The viral load, or amount
of
human exposure to virus particles or virions,
should be relative to the immune system. What is known so far
is that the viral load does not need to be necessarily high to
infect a human, but the degree of sickness can sometimes depend
on the viral load (although not always). In other words, a high
viral load can cause a greater sickness, but with some
inconsistencies. Likewise, if the viral load is so little it
may become absorbed by the average immune system. What exactly
these viral loads are remain to be unanswered.
When the sun radiates through the environment, eventually
peaking to its strongest intensity, it will begin to extinguish
the virus from the environment (including the air). Just as the
Coronavirus was sparked by a natural occurrence, it can be
countered by a natural occurrence such as the sun, and by man’s
deliberate intervention.
We have gone from mandates of “nobody should wear a respirator
mask” to “everybody should wear a respirator mask” in just
several weeks. Anyone concerned about their health, or believes
they are in a sensitive situation with their immune system,
should keep an air purifier running inside their house along
with wearing a respirator mask when they leave, especially if
they plan to endure several hours of the outdoors.
1.
Examples of fomites as listed by Wikipedia.
