Did we really need a supercomputer to tell us that — face shields (by themselves) are worthless in stopping COVID aerosols and droplets?

© 2020 Peter Free

 

22 September 2020

 

 

Well, duh

 

Did we really need a supercomputer to tell us what an 8 year old could figure out in a second or so?

 

 

Plastic face shields are almost totally ineffective at trapping respiratory aerosols, according to modelling in Japan, casting doubt on their effectiveness in preventing the spread of coronavirus.

 

A simulation using Fugaku, the world’s fastest supercomputer, found that almost 100% of airborne droplets of less than 5 micrometres in size escaped through plastic visors of the kind often used by people working in service industries.

 

In addition, about half of larger droplets measuring 50 micrometres found their way into the air, according to Riken, a government-backed research institute in the western city of Kobe.

 

As some countries have attempted to open up their economies, face shields are becoming a common sight in sectors that emphasise contact with the public, such as shops and beauty salons.

 

Makoto Tsubokura, team leader at Riken’s centre for computational science . . . . cautioned against wearing face visors as an alternative to masks.

 

“Judging from the results of the simulation, unfortunately the effectiveness of face guards in preventing droplets from spreading from an infected person’s mouth is limited compared with masks,” Tsubokura told the Guardian.

 

© 2020 Justin McCurry, Face shields ineffective at trapping aerosols, says Japanese supercomputer, Guardian (22 September 2020)

 

 

 

Where did they think that the air . . .

 

. . . we're breathing (without added interference or filtering) from around and under a face shield is coming from?

 

 

An added, indicative question

 

Couldn't someone have thought of a more useful COVID investigation for the supercomputer to have done?

 

Especially so, given still prevailing epidemiological ignorance about most parameters of COVID's spread, physiological access and effects?

 

 

The moral? —  COVID is essentially a psychometric test of non-idiot people's patience with behavioral imbeciles

 

SARS-CoV-2 may ultimately constitute a societal performance test that selects for slightly smarter than Worm Dumb human cultures.