We know that research shows that the corona virus dies very quickly in direct sunshine. In a cool dry room without sunshine, the half life of the virus is roughly 18 hours. In direct sunshine, the half life is roughly 1.5 minutes. We also know that in warmer temperatures and higher humidity the virus dies more quickly So can this information be used to inform a rational decision as to what is a safe place to be during the pandemic?
The logical answer is yes. Where could one go where there are warmer temperatures, higher humidity and lots of sunshine? The obvious answer is the beach. Anyone who lives by the ocean knows that humidity is a constant when you are near the water. Sunshine is also unlimited on the beach. And with the progress of Spring towards Summer, higher temperatures are also normally present. In other words, on a warm sunny day, going to the beach is pretty safe as it is unlikely that you could catch the virus from someone unless you were practically on top of him or her.
With that science informing us, why is it then that the media and some governments are melting down over people in California and Florida visiting beaches? Sure, if there are people at the beach, you still want to keep your distance, but if you do, it's relatively safe. Why is the media melting down?
To me, it seems that the media is selling panic. Everything that happens has to be reported in an over the top and breathless manner. It's a crisis. That's a disaster. This is an outrage. You know what I mean. Were the media to report that people have been able to get out and go to the beach with relative safety, that's indicating a reduction in the crisis. We just can't have that. The media wants to ratchet up panic and tension; they can't let it decline during an outing to the beach.
Remember when all those students were sitting in the sun on the beach in Florida during Spring Break. The media ran maps of where all those students were going to end up once they went home and calculated all those people who were suddenly going to catch the virus from these surely infected students. We heard the scare stories about the coming avalanche of infections. But guess what? Those post Spring Break spikes in infections never came. Maybe it was because the students mixing on the beach were in this relatively safe space.
Look, if you consider what happened at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, you can see that big crowds pushed together can still spread the virus even in warmer and more humid climates. Still, the crowds at Mardi Gras did not practice social distancing. If anything, they practiced social crowding. It was a great way to spread the virus. The result was a big spike in infections a few weeks later in NOLA. But then what happened? Infections in Louisiana stopped growing and declined rapidly. The post Mardi Gras peak hit 2700 cases per day in early April but it then fell off to the current level of about 400 cases per day over the last two weeks. Without people crammed together at Mardi Gras parties, the heat and humidity in Louisiana cut the transmission of the virus down in ways that did not happen in New York, for example. As we move into Summer, we may see that new cases across the country will decline to a trickle or even less so long as people try to keep their distance from one another.
The logical answer is yes. Where could one go where there are warmer temperatures, higher humidity and lots of sunshine? The obvious answer is the beach. Anyone who lives by the ocean knows that humidity is a constant when you are near the water. Sunshine is also unlimited on the beach. And with the progress of Spring towards Summer, higher temperatures are also normally present. In other words, on a warm sunny day, going to the beach is pretty safe as it is unlikely that you could catch the virus from someone unless you were practically on top of him or her.
With that science informing us, why is it then that the media and some governments are melting down over people in California and Florida visiting beaches? Sure, if there are people at the beach, you still want to keep your distance, but if you do, it's relatively safe. Why is the media melting down?
To me, it seems that the media is selling panic. Everything that happens has to be reported in an over the top and breathless manner. It's a crisis. That's a disaster. This is an outrage. You know what I mean. Were the media to report that people have been able to get out and go to the beach with relative safety, that's indicating a reduction in the crisis. We just can't have that. The media wants to ratchet up panic and tension; they can't let it decline during an outing to the beach.
Remember when all those students were sitting in the sun on the beach in Florida during Spring Break. The media ran maps of where all those students were going to end up once they went home and calculated all those people who were suddenly going to catch the virus from these surely infected students. We heard the scare stories about the coming avalanche of infections. But guess what? Those post Spring Break spikes in infections never came. Maybe it was because the students mixing on the beach were in this relatively safe space.
Look, if you consider what happened at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, you can see that big crowds pushed together can still spread the virus even in warmer and more humid climates. Still, the crowds at Mardi Gras did not practice social distancing. If anything, they practiced social crowding. It was a great way to spread the virus. The result was a big spike in infections a few weeks later in NOLA. But then what happened? Infections in Louisiana stopped growing and declined rapidly. The post Mardi Gras peak hit 2700 cases per day in early April but it then fell off to the current level of about 400 cases per day over the last two weeks. Without people crammed together at Mardi Gras parties, the heat and humidity in Louisiana cut the transmission of the virus down in ways that did not happen in New York, for example. As we move into Summer, we may see that new cases across the country will decline to a trickle or even less so long as people try to keep their distance from one another.
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