# CV can "persist in air for hours"?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 18, 2020, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cv-can-persist-in-air-for-hours/849713 "2020-03-18T06:25:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cv-can-persist-in-air-for-hours/849713/1 "2020-03-18T06:25:17Z")
This might be the news that will finally break me: [https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/study-coronavirus-can-persist-in-air-for-hours-and-on-surfaces-for-days/ar-BB11jSTc?ocid=ob-fb-enus-280&fbclid=IwAR1IDAOrbx9\_EAP\_SCDjDBmZvZHyTBUMtpIkt\_7rzeO2yyWuHOiHI5JfdtI](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/study-coronavirus-can-persist-in-air-for-hours-and-on-surfaces-for-days/ar-BB11jSTc?ocid=ob-fb-enus-280&fbclid=IwAR1IDAOrbx9_EAP_SCDjDBmZvZHyTBUMtpIkt_7rzeO2yyWuHOiHI5JfdtI) > [@](#): > > The highly contagious novel coronavirus that has exploded into a global pandemic can remain viable and infectious in droplets in the air for hours and on surfaces up to days, according to a new study that should offer guidance to help people avoid contracting the respiratory illness called COVID-19. > Scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, attempted to mimic the virus deposited from an infected person onto everyday surfaces in a household or hospital setting, such as through coughing or touching objects. > They used a device to dispense an aerosol that duplicated the microscopic droplets created in a cough or a sneeze. For years, I lived in a house, but 2017, my family and I relocated to northern Minnesota and moved into a three bedroom, two bath apartment with a private garage. We have enjoyed this kind of living, especially not having to be responsible for our own repairs (nor the heating bill in the winter). But the only route to the outside is down the corridor, into a fairly compact stairwell, then through a very compact entryway. We have been practicing extreme “shelter in place” social distancing, and bringing along disposable gloves and ziplocs holding paper towels soaked in a 50:1 bleach solution to clean off anything we might need to touch. But there are hundreds of people in this building, and only two doors (although the lucky bastards on the first floor can go in and out via their patio doors, whereas our similarly-placed door goes to a balcony) so if these droplets really persist in the air for hours, I feel like we’re doomed regardless. ☹ Please someone tell me this is overstated. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cv-can-persist-in-air-for-hours/849713/2 "2020-03-18T06:38:30Z")
That is not overstated. However air is not stagnant. How often is the volume of air in those hallways completely changed? Are they well ventilated? Those are important factors in how much risk you have going in and out. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cv-can-persist-in-air-for-hours/849713/3 "2020-03-18T06:45:08Z")
Coughing is not necessary; just breathing is enough to aerosolize the virus and expel it from an infected person’s nasal cavities. [Cite](http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/03/study-highlights-ease-spread-covid-19-viruses). > [@](#): > > The findings confirm that COVID-19 is spread simply through breathing, even without coughing, he said. They also challenge the idea that contact with contaminated surfaces is a primary means of spread, Osterholm said. > > “Don’t forget about hand washing, but at the same time we’ve got to get people to understand that if you don’t want to get infected, you can’t be in crowds,” he said. “Social distancing is the most effective tool we have right now.” This was covered in the Breaking News thread about a week ago. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cv-can-persist-in-air-for-hours/849713/4 "2020-03-18T07:18:31Z")
> [@steatopygia](#): > > That is not overstated. However air is not stagnant. How often is the volume of air in those hallways completely changed? Are they well ventilated? Those are important factors in how much risk you have going in and out. They aren’t ventilated at all, as far as I can tell. Baseboard heat, not forced air. No windows or vents of any kind that I can see. It’s this type of building: [https://www.virtualbx.com/feature-story/san-antonio-nrp-group-submits-plans-for-apartments-at-red-berry-estate/](https://www.virtualbx.com/feature-story/san-antonio-nrp-group-submits-plans-for-apartments-at-red-berry-estate/) These are ubiquitous in our metro area. Three floors. Everyone has a standard hinged/deadbolted door from their kitchen to the common hallway, and a sliding glass door off the living room. Those on the bottom floor can walk out onto a patio and then through the grass to the sidewalk. Everyone else (like us, on the second floor) can only enter and exit the building by walking through the interior corridor to either one of the two stairways at each end of the building, or to the elevator in the center. Then at the bottom of each stairwell is a buzzer door, beyond that a small entryway with mailboxes, and the unlocked door to the outside. Goddammit, I so want my own door to the outside right now. :smack: But this isn’t just shitty for me and my family. There are SO many of these buildings in our metro, and it’s gotta be the case in many cities across the country, right? What good is “shelter in place” if everyone in these apartment buildings is going to give it to each other even if we do that? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2020, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cv-can-persist-in-air-for-hours/849713/5 "2020-03-18T07:34:15Z")
Missed the edit window, but in case it wasn’t clear, our sliding glass door just goes out to a balcony (which I used to think was actually better than a patio). I guess I could set up some sort of rope ladder down from that, but it might be a little tricky to haul groceries up and I’m sure our downstairs neighbors and landlords would not approve.