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Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by wrycoder on Thursday July 21, 2022 @04:32PM (#32184610)
Well, those solutions don't really work because of the contagiousness, so they are going out of favor.

What is needed is effective prophylactics (beyond mRNA vaccines) and effective treatment. But the effort spent on that is, sadly, minimal.

Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by bsder on Thursday July 21, 2022 @05:13PM (#32185155)
Exactly. For example, how many buildings have UV sterilized return air, now?

A tiny, tiny fraction. And this would benefit us for way more than just Covid.

Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by Enginerrrd on Thursday July 21, 2022 @05:50PM (#32185633)
Honestly, I don't think UV return air would work as well as you think. The real solution is increased ventilation rates.

UV bulbs are expensive (and invisible unless you get to poke around a buildings mechanical room.), they need to be replaced typically ~annually (they won't be). If they get dust on them, they don't work as well. Etc. etc.

And here's the issue: To actually deal with high concentration infectious aerosols you need to get that air out of the room ASAP. (i.e. negative pressure rooms) If you can sterilize the return air that's great, but frankly I suspect dilution and air movement is going to be the dominant effect in reducing infection chains.

Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by MichaelCollins on Thursday July 21, 2022 @06:40PM (#32186123)
I think opening up windows is the answer, but that would mean accepting either a loss of climate control, or greatly increased energy costs. (I'd prefer the former, in all but the absolute hottest summer days or the deadliest cold.)
Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by ccn0p on Tuesday July 26, 2022 @11:59AM (#32240036)
The most interesting phenomenon I noticed was how unquestionably loyal many places were to the mask mandates, yet kept all their windows shut even on totally nice days out.

I was in a gym that required everyone to wear a mask (yes, while working out / on a treadmill / etc), but all the large windows were shut, and nobody seemed to care or notice. No staff, no patrons, nobody. So I walked around and opened all the windows. And this wasn't March 2020. This was like end of 2021.

I'm not claiming to be some pandemic savant, nor getting into a mask debate, but what shocked me was the "group psychosis" on masking at the expense of proven and incredibly easy mitigation efforts like opening windows!

Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by bsder on Thursday July 21, 2022 @07:16PM (#32186443)
Is all this true for modern UV LEDs?
Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by trashcan on Thursday July 21, 2022 @10:42PM (#32187864)
In my house at least I have a UV light in my central HVAC that is supposed to be replaced every five years. Maybe it is different for commercial buildings, but commercial buildings also tend to have professional maintenance.
Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by quantum_magpie on Friday July 22, 2022 @01:47AM (#32188945)
You need UV-C for sterilization and there are no LEDs emitting that.
Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by MoreSEMI on Friday July 22, 2022 @05:08AM (#32190065)
This is no longer true. Vishay and Nichia[1] for example, produce leds in the UVC range.

[1]https://led-ld.nichia.co.jp/en/product/uv_uvc.html

Re:Why we ignore thousands of daily car crashes by stjohnswarts on Friday July 22, 2022 @03:36PM (#32196203)
I don't want UV sterilized air. The war on germs is one we can't win. If everything is sterilized then our immune systems will only weaken and when we do come across a flu virus outdoors it will us 10x harder and potentially kill us.