Two Coronavirus Myths that CDC and WHO stated as Facts

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and WHO (World Health Organization) are organizations, which are being held as the leading authority regarding information surrounding COVID-19. It wasn’t until March 11, 2020 that WHO declared the spread of Covid-19 a pandemic when it should have been declared a pandemic by late January. The delay in response as well as an overall lack of information released by these authorities is a part of the reason why the USA appears to have surpassed China in the number of cases of individuals who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. I stated, “appears” because there is now solid evidence that China government and health officials have lied and underreported the number of Coronavirus cases and deaths. Nonetheless, let’s get into a few of the myths that have been stated as facts by the CDC and WHO!

Myth #1

Coronavirus is “not Airborne”

World Health organization has always shot down any thought of Coronavirus being spread via aerosols. There has been much research complete on Coronavirus and the ability for it to spread in the air. It’s absolutely dangerous for WHO to deny that that the virus is airborne when they don’t have much of a clue about the science behind aerosol spread. The models that were being used to understand respiratory transmission is old and outdated.

Myth debunked: Coronavirus does appear to also be airborne and can travel more than 6 feet

Lydia Bourouiba, a researcher at MIT has been able to show via visual media that coughs, sneezes and exhalations (breathing) unleash both droplets and aerosols that travel at large distances. At this point, we do know that the virus is in fact airborne. It was also recommended that 6ft was enough to be deemed a safe distance for social distancing rules. It is not enough! Bourouiba warns that infection droplets can travel as much as 27 feet in turbulent gaseous clouds. The droplets in these clouds can be large or small. The turbulent power of these clouds can cause the virus to travel by as much as 27 feet.

This research may actually explain why many members of the Mount Vernon, Washington choir who met for rehearsal last month developed COVID-19. Of the 63 choir members that met, 45 fell ill and two have died. These turbulent cloud bursts discussed in the cloud dynamics model by Bourouiba would have likely occurred during singing and led to the spread of the virus in the choir members.

Myth #2

Masks DO NOT protect individuals from Coronavirus

U.S. Surgeon General, Jerome Adams previously stated in late February that masks “are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!” Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, when asked if people should wear masks, outrightly stated “NO!”

Why did the U.S. surgeon general and the director of the CDC inaccurately tell the public that masks are not effective in preventing coronavirus? The only real concern of Dr. Jerome was that first responder medical officials and facilities did not have sufficient supplies of masks needed to protect themselves. However, his message persuading members of the public to cease buying masks did not take into account the health and safety of the public who also need masks. If first responders need masks to protect themselves from a virus then every one else also needs masks for protection, especially if they are essential workers and unable to quarantine or shelter in place on a 24/7 basis. The message of persuasion of the public to cease buying masks because it won’t protect them was in direct opposition to the Hippocratic oath which states that the practitioner must “Do No Harm.”

WHO has stated on their website, “If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection” They’ve also stated that masks are “effective only when used in combination with frequent hand-cleaning with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.”

WHO is now changing their stance on masks and the wearing of masks by the general public and the Whitehouse will soon issue a formal recommendation for the public to wear masks.

Instead of government and health administrators telling individuals not to wear masks, they should have been finding ways to domestically manufacture a large supply of masks or at least urge individuals to create diy masks with fabric or cloth. Why do we leave it to celebrity sports figures or inventors to take an active position to donate materials that are needed? Now God Bless people like Stephon Marbury, Elon Musk, Oprah and Kylie Jenner for donating funds or needed supplies but we shouldn’t have to rely on celebrities to step in and offer help as one of the most powerful countries in the world. Maybe the USA isn’t so powerful after all. Why is it that the USA has passed a trillion dollar stimulus bill but can’t ramp up domestic resources to produce the necessary supply of masks that citizens can wear?

Myth debunked: Masks actually DO prevent and protect against Coronavirus

Masks can protect against droplet spread of the virus. Masks offer protection from asymptomatic people who have the virus. Respirator masks such as N95 are efficient in protecting individuals from viruses such as COVID-19. The wearing of masks prevent sick people from spreading infections. The healthy unmasked person should also wear a mask because the unmasked can breathe in infectious particles that may escape the sides or gaps of the sick person’s mask. So everyone needs to wear masks. Not just the sick and not just health care workers. Realistically, everyone should wear an N95 mask, however, this isn’t possible due to the current shortage.

The wearing of masks is one area that the USA has been criticized by other countries including China. Isn’t it ironic that the country whose unsafe cultural eating practices led to the spread of this virus is now criticizing other countries? Chinese scientist, George Gao has stated that the biggest mistake that the USA has made is that people are not wearing masks. Though Gao has stated that China has taken aggressive measures to slow the virus through the use of frequent temperature taking and wearing of masks, one still can’t be too sure that the spread of the virus has actually slowed down because intelligence has found that cases and deaths due to Coronavirus have been underreported.

Resources:

Bourouiba L. Turbulent Gas Clouds and Respiratory Pathogen Emissions: Potential Implications for Reducing Transmission of COVID-19. JAMA. Published online March 26, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.4756

Cohen, J. (2020, March 27). Not wearing masks to protect against coronavirus is a 'big mistake,' top Chinese scientist says. Retrieved from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/not-wearing-masks-protect-against-coronavirus-big-mistake-top-chinese-scientist-says

Read, R. (2020, March 30). A choir decided to go ahead with rehearsal. Now dozens of members have COVID-19 and two are dead. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-29/coronavirus-choir-outbreak