Coronavirus weekly need-to-know: Indoor spread, valved masks, holiday shopping & more
Each week, McClatchy News offers you a round-up of our noteworthy coronavirus coverage from across the nation.
More than 10.8 million people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Saturday, Nov. 14, according to Johns Hopkins University. That includes more than 245,000 people who have died nationwide.
The United States — which leads the world in both confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths — reported more than 160,000 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, a new record. The news came just eight days after the U.S. surpassed 100,000 daily cases for the first time, according to The New York Times.
Globally, there are more than 53.7 million confirmed cases of the highly infectious virus, with more than 1.3 million reported deaths.
Here’s the news you need to know for the week of Nov. 8.
Limiting indoor capacity can save lives
Limiting the number of people who are close together indoors for an extended period of time — such as in gyms, hotels, cafes, religious centers and restaurants — can reduce new coronavirus infections by about 80%, according to a new study from Stanford University.
The study not only “offers the strongest evidence yet” that stay-at-home mandates from earlier in the pandemic prevented new infections, the researchers said, but it also revealed that people of color have about double the risk of contracting COVID-19 than white people when visiting indoor spaces, such as grocery stores.
Continue reading to learn more about COVID-19 spread in indoor spaces.
Masks with vents do not prevent COVID-19 spread
Masks with valves or vents do not help slow the spread of COVID-19. It’s a message long touted by health officials since the pandemic began, but now there are videos that show why.
Valves make it easier to breathe and are designed to protect workers from contaminated air, such as construction workers with dust. But these masks do not protect people who are around the wearer because they cannot capture exhaled droplets that may contain the coronavirus like surgical and N95 masks do.
Watch the videos to see how air escapes through masks with valves.
How to safely go holiday shopping
As shoppers gear up for Black Friday deals, health experts recommend taking precautions to help protect against the coronavirus.
Browsing for gifts online poses a lower risk of spreading the virus, while going to crowded stores is among “higher risk activities,” the CDC said in a guidance last updated Monday. During the pandemic, health officials also have urged people to limit in-person visits to stores.
Learn what experts suggest if one item on your list requires you to shop in person.
Masks protect you, too, not just others
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Tuesday that masks protect their wearers from the spread of COVID-19 — a shift from the agency’s previous stance that masks would mostly benefit the people around them.
Masks function as “source control” to prevent the spread of virus particles that the wearer exhales and, the CDC now says, they also act as “filtration for personal protection” by blocking respiratory droplets.
Read on to see what else the CDC said about masks.
Tips on how to have a safe Thanksgiving
As families plan to prepare and serve Thanksgiving dinners, health officials recommend taking steps to protect against the coronavirus because sharing meals with others may increase the risk of spreading COVID-19, the CDC says.
While eating food isn’t directly tied to the disease’s spread, transmission can happen when a sick person releases particles while speaking, sneezing or coughing. To help reduce the risk, health officials recommend practicing social distancing and washing hands often.
Here are other tips to consider for your Thanksgiving celebrations.
Texas professor develops air filter to catch coronavirus
Seamus Curran, a physics professor at the University of Houston, has developed a nanotech coating for air filters meant to “capture” COVID-19 droplets as air flows through it.
As air passes through the filter, the nanotech coating catches the droplets, blocking them from passing into the ventilation system. The virus then sits on the filter until it breaks down and disappears, usually in about 40 minutes.
Continue reading to learn more about how the air filter works.
Map shows you how risky your county is for holiday gatherings
An interactive map developed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology shows how risky gatherings of different sizes are in each U.S. county, based on at least one attendee being infected with the coronavirus.
Users can select an “event size” anywhere from 10 to 5,000 people and watch as the map changes color based on risk level. Light yellow areas have risk levels below 1% while dark red regions have risk levels above 99%.
Explore how risky it is to gather for the holidays in your county.
Beware fake texts about COVID-19 clinical trials
Beware of bogus messages about COVID-19 clinical trials sent through text, email or social media, the Better Business Bureau said last week in a news release.
Though there are real clinical trials out there, experts warn it’s best to be cautious.
“Preying on our natural desire to help others, scammers have created fake websites and promotional materials, posing as legitimate researchers,” the Federal Trade Commission said in October. “Their goal? To take your personal information and your money.”
Here’s how to spot a scheme.
In other coronavirus coverage outside McClatchy...
New US coronavirus cases top 140,000, a record high for daily count
Study of Marine recruits finds fever, symptom screening misses many coronavirus cases
FDA approves emergency use of monoclonal antibody for treatment of COVID-19
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 7:54 AM with the headline "Coronavirus weekly need-to-know: Indoor spread, valved masks, holiday shopping & more."
