7 Tips for Flying and Traveling during COVID ✈🚗

welcome to another covid 19 video this  one let's talk about how we can not   get the coronavirus while traveling  i'm also going to answer the question   is it better to fly or to drive which spoiler  alert it depends and if you haven't done so   already i do highly recommend you watch  my previous video on airborne transmission   because what i say here in this video will make  more sense to you in brief this virus spreads by   all three routes it spreads by contact it spreads  by respiratory droplets that act like ballistics in it spreads by the airborne route meaning very  tiny droplets or aerosols remain suspended in the   air which then can be inhaled by someone else so  we know about hand washing or using hand sanitizer   and not touching your face or mask with dirty  hands and trying to maintain at least six feet   but is that enough probably not because catching  a respiratory virus such as coronavirus in general   especially in an airplane is possible by inhaling  the virus in the regular face covering that you   wear such as a medical mask or a surgical mask  that's not going to prevent you from inhaling that   virus if it's in the air close to you so recently  there is this where three people tested positive   on a delta flight which was a about a two hour  flight so how is the virus transmitted we'll never   really know for sure because you can't prove one  way or another in this instance if it was spread   by means of contact versus respiratory droplets  or airborne transmission but let's talk about some   things that we do know most airlines are requiring  passengers to wear masks in fact starting today   july 20th delta will now require passengers who  can't wear a mask because of a health condition to   consider staying home and if they insist on flying  the passenger must complete a health screening   before being allowed to fly delta will ultimately  decide whether the passenger will be allowed to   travel without wearing a mask now this is sort of  a back and forth game right people don't have real   medical exemptions from not wearing a mask that's  just a cover because they don't want to wear one   so delta is recognizing this and saying well we  know how this virus spreads so if people refuse   to wear a mask because of a health condition then  we'll have to consult with our doctors to see if   they can fly because of their health condition so  this is delta's roundabout way of saying wear the   mask or don't fly and that's the right thing to do  because you're risking other people's lives by not   wearing one i feel like i should make a video on  this whole medical exemption from wearing a mass   debate what do you think leave a comment below and  let me know anyway some airlines are also taking   other measures to minimize person-to-person  interaction such as not serving alcoholic   beverages or skipping snacks altogether most commercial flights these days have  very clean cabin air airplanes accomplish this   by the way they have their air intake system set  up essentially they have compressed air passing   through the jet engines with its temperature  being super hot like 250 degrees celsius hot or   482 degrees fahrenheit hot i'm feeling hot i love  that song especially at weddings and cruise ships   that hot air is then cooled and put 450 pounds per  square inch to be exact so between the initial hot   temperatures and the high pressure that makes  the air in the cabin very sterile as bacteria   and viruses become destroyed in that process  before the mid-1980s planes would actually use 100   fresh air for the cabin but to save money  they redesigned the ventilation systems   so that it's 50 fresh air and 50 recirculated  air in the cabin now would it be better to have   100 fresh air technically yeah but because of the  hot temperatures and high pressures the subsequent   cabin air is still very clean and the cabin air  is exchanged every three to four minutes which   is actually better than offices and homes which is  typically every five to twelve minutes also with   the newer generations of airplanes they have high  efficiency particulate air filters meaning hepa   filters these filter out the recirculated air they  can fish out particles as small as 0.3 microns   which is what a n95 respirator mask can do as well  as an elastomeric mask now some might say well the   virus is only about 0.1 microns in diameter or 100  nanometers and this is true but most of the virus   in the air is going to exist within respiratory  droplets so the bottom line is if the virus   is in the air most of it about 95 of it will be  filtered out with these hepa filters on the plane   and the same thing goes for respirator masks and  for the virus that remains in the air that does   not exist within a respiratory droplet that  floats in the air we still don't know if that   virus is able to maintain infectivity because it  may be dried out and inactivated in the process   so let's take a look at this scenario let's  say there's a passenger who is infected with   coronavirus they probably don't even have  symptoms hopefully they're wearing a mask   which they should be wearing one for this  specific reason because whether they have   symptoms or not they're going to expel that  virus especially if they call for sneeze so that person is going to expel that virus  into a moist cloud that lingers in the air   which will be readily available for their  neighbors to inhale when someone is expelling   respiratory droplets the ones that are at least  5 to 10 microns in size those are the ones that   are going to act like ballistics and fall within 6  to 12 feet of them if they are not wearing a mask   the respiratory droplets expel that are less  than 5 microns these are the ones that will   stay suspended in the air much like a fart  and don't you hate it when someone lets one   rip on the plane though what do you do you hold  your breath you look around for likely suspects   but there's never a guilty verdict and they're  usually a repeat offender right and you just   pray you'll be landing soon but getting back to  the aerosols that are expelled from the mouth   if someone is wearing a mask it will drastically  reduce the size of that moist cloud it will reduce   the size that that cloud can travel but it won't  totally prevent the virus from being airborne   so if no one is sitting close to you or if someone  is sitting close to you but doesn't have the virus   then no worries but of course people are going to  be close to you on the plane and it's impossible   to know who has the virus and if that virus is in  the air close to you you're going to breed that in   unless you do tip number one which is you wear an  n95 respirator mask or an elastomeric respirator   both of these filter out at least 95 percent  of airborne particles that are as small as 0.3   microns right now the cdc recommends the public to  not purchase and wear these n95 respirator masks   for one because they need to be reserved for  healthcare workers which i don't understand   how there can be a limited supply this deep  into a pandemic but i digress and by the way   amazon will not sell them right now the other  reasons why it's generally advised for the   public not to wear them well n95 respirators  are tight fitting and people who wear them   have to be test fitted meaning the mask is on  properly so that it can effectively do its job   which also means facial hairstyles are limited  because of the potential to disrupt the tight fit   basically you can't have any facial hair outside  of the zone where the n95 respirator is going to   go in the face so here it is the n95 which you  probably cannot buy and you probably will not   wear on the plane and i'll get to the alternative  in a second but here's the n95 and this is a wire   it's a hard wire where you bend it around your  nose so it basically secures a tight fit there   and not supposed to have facial hair so when i go  back to work i can't even have this i'm gonna have   to shave but essentially right here it's going to  make a tight fit around here and the proper way to   go about this is to actually get a test fit where  they spray a chemical so that they can see if you   smell the chemical if you can smell it then it's  not a good fit so that's how we determine that   also these masks are uncomfortable and it's not  practical to wear them for more than a few hours   however if there are enough of these to go  around for the public i don't see why they   can't be recommended for certain situations like  when you're in an enclosed space with other people   such as a subway train or in an elevator  or on an airplane there's also the issue   of keeping the masks sterile so they can actually  be re-sterilized by baking them in an oven set at   160 degrees for 30 minutes i'm not joking that's  really the best and the most practical way to   re-sterilize them is 160 degree dry heat for 30  minutes alternatively if you happen to have seven   of these masks laying around you can wear one new  one each day of the week and for the ones that   you're not using keep them in a dry isolated place  this way the viruses and bacteria will just die   off so for now the cdc says the public should not  buy them and should not wear them but what you can   do is get yourself an elastomeric respirator this  is a reusable device with exchangeable cartridge   filters like an n95 respirator it also filters  out at least 95 percent of airborne particles   as small as 0.3 microns it fits tight against  the user's face and it's more comfortable than   an n95 and before reusing this mask all of its  surfaces need to be wiped down with a disinfectant   so although both of these are not perfect they are  very effective at preventing inhaling the virus   now if i were to buy one i'd probably go with  this one the 3m 7503 large silicone ultimate   7500 series as it gets great reviews on amazon and  i'll put a link to that in the description below   all right tip number two i definitely recommend  eye goggles that prevent air from blowing into   your eyes because that's another way for the  virus to infect you you might be able to see   here on the side the air really can't get in  so not going to get to your eyes or at least   it's very low likelihood and they're very cheap  these are my cheap motorcycle goggles i have here   and i also have the cheap sunglasses version  here just in case it's very sunny and bright   on the plane like when they don't pull the  window shade down and all that sun gets in   but anyway you can get these on amazon as  well and i'll put a link to them below so all right now on to tip number three those  overhead jets on the plane probably gonna   want to turn those on why because stagnant air is  the enemy here stagnant air makes it easier for   the virus to linger in the air not only that but  those overhead jets actually will push that air   downwards with that jet so if the virus is in that  air essentially it's going to be pushed toward   the floor making you less likely to infect you  tip number four avoid people impossible you say   yes but you can get the super early flights or the  red-eye flights and consider getting a business   class c if you can or better yet a private jet  tip number five avoid long flights because the   longer the flight the more potential exposure what  makes someone more likely to inhale the virus is   really a combination of factors now one of those  factors is the amount of time you spend in close   contact with someone who has the virus this is why  people who live in the same household as someone   who has the virus is more likely to get it it's  also why healthcare workers are more likely to   get it so keep that in mind when you're booking  longer trips alright so tip number six bring the   hand sanitizer with you because you're going to be  getting your hands dirty a lot those respiratory   droplets land on everything so anytime you touch  something there's a potential to get the virus on   your hands and of course don't touch your face  with your hands at least if they're not clean   and this is the same rationale for  my final tip number seven which is   bring sanitizing wipes so that you can  wipe the tray if you're gonna use the tray   now doing all of these things still does  not guarantee that you won't get the virus   but it dramatically improves your chances of not  getting it the other nice thing about implementing   these measures trying to look on the bright side  here is that they'll prevent inhalation of other   respiratory infectious diseases such as measles  tuberculosis and influenza yes influenza is mostly   respiratory droplet transmission but is sometimes  transmitted by means of aerosol and then there   are other viruses that cause the common cold such  as other coronaviruses rhinoviruses adenoviruses   and human metanema viruses and others as well  so is it better to drive instead of to fly   kind of depends if you're by yourself no worries  just make sure to maintain the usual precautions   throughout the trip like when you take breaks  from driving you're going to want to wear the   mask wash your hands and all that other stuff  avoiding handshakes avoiding hugs and kisses she's my sister but the more people in  the car the higher the likelihood of   someone spreading the virus if someone does  have it so for multiple people in the car   better to wear masks and definitely crack open  a window or two so you can have that window   down a few inches and that way if the virus is  aerosolized it'll just fly out the window which   is also what you can do when someone lets one rip  so which one is better flying or driving it really   depends on a lot of different factors other things  you might want to consider is the destination do   they have a quarantine rule there if you do fly  there overall i'd say driving is probably better   especially if you're going by yourself but as  long as you know the preventative measures that   you can implement you'll minimize your chances of  getting the virus whether you're flying or driving   all right that's all i have for this video  check out my airborne transmission video   if you haven't seen that one already  and i'll see you in the next one you

Channel: Doctor Mike Hansen

Views: 724,889

Keywords: traveling during covid pandemic, covid travel, traveling during covid, flying during pandemic, flying during covid, covid travel tips, travel safety during covid, traveling on airplane covid, travel during covid, how to travel and not get covid, covid travel guide, air travel during covid, air travel during covid pandemic, how to travel during covid, travelling during covid, flying covid, travel covid, traveling during covid 19, flying during covid 19, travelling in covid

Id: wEid0Hxt8mk

Length: 14min 12sec (852 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 21 2020