I've been on several flights during the pandemic where someone on the plane was using a CPAP in-flight. This is allowed, even though CPAP's have been shown to aerosolize and spread viruses.
I have raised this issue with everyone I could think of and nobody cares, or is willing to tell CPAP users they can't fly. This proves to me that the people in charge don't care about reducing COVID exposure.
I do wear properly-fitted genuine N95s while flying and have never had any flight staff tell me I couldn't.
They need to ban in-flight use of CPAP now. I was shocked when I had to fly and the person next to me mid-flight, started using a machine that the CDC, the NIH and many others warn will aerosolize SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses and spread them far and wide.
One of my pet peeves is the way nobody in the Government is caring about safety on air travel.
I had to fly recently and someone near me was using a CPAP.
Study after study shows that CPAP aerosolizes and spreads virus particles much more rapidly than normal respiration. Various Government agencies warn about this.
I've written (FedEx) to the CEOs of United and American. American didn't answer. United says they're required by law to allow people to use CPAP in-flight.
There's no excuse for this. A person who needs a CPAP is already a high-risk for dying if they contract COVID. Do they want to take down everyone else with them?
Since they allow CPAP machines to be used in-flight and these are known to aersolize and spread viral particle far and wide, I won't feel comfortable flying until I can wear a full-face mask with N-95 filters.
I've written a letter (I had to Fed-Ex it to get an answer) to United (my usual airline) and they tell me they have to allow CPAP in flight "because of ADA."
I hope they don't restrict the use of full-face masks.
They allow CPAP on airplanes. If it can really aerosolize infectious agents, then this is an outrage, and these should be banned from airplanes immediately.
Airlines never stopped allowing CPAP in flight even though the US Government warned it is extremely dangerous to be around because it aerosolizes and projects virus particles.
Agreed, but I’ve taken several flights during covid all over the world and I see 1 n95 every 50 people at most. And it’s very likely that the person wearing it does not have covid anyway. The one that probably had covid is that guy with his nose out and the one snacking a little bit the whole flight to not have to wear it.
The studied COVID outbreaks on planes show that this still isn't sufficient. I'm also pretty sure I got sick from the kid sitting directly behind me on the plane when I got influenza.
You can site all the statistics and propaganda in the world about plane ventilation. It clearly isn't enough to prevent viral spread (I don't care about air changes per hour or cfm or anything else, the only endpoint worth discussing is viral spread--I give precisely zero fucks about how fast the air is moving around). I'm using n95s on planes from here on out.
pretty sure they're breathing during the flight thou, otherwise masks wouldn't be required.
please note: no one gives a shit if your antivax on a flight. its you're fucking behavior that's the problem. Thats what puts the scarlet letter on your forehead not your moronic views on vaccinations.
You should not let people in planes in a pandemic, face mask or not; even with a mask the risk is simply too high for spreading the disease during all the touches during boarding, seating, opening/closing storage bins etc. Even with gloves it is not safe enough.
A full bio-hazard suit is too expensive and quite impractical, less than that is not safe.
Did you read the article? The main takeaway was to wear your mask and you will be less likely to get covid on a plane. They mentioned that the air is filtered every 6 minutes. Showed statistics where infected people on a plan with people who were all mandated to wear masks infected no one. That isn't fear mongering, that is letting people know they can fly safely, just wear a good mask.
'At a casual glance, air travel might seem like the perfect recipe for COVID transmission: it packs dozens of people into a confined space, often for hours at a time. But many planes have excellent high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters that capture more than 99 percent of particles in the air, including microbes as SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID. When their recirculation systems are operating, most commercial passenger jets bring in outside air in a top-to-bottom direction about 20 to 30 times per hours. This results in a 50–50 mix of outside and recirculated air and reduces the potential for airborne spread of a respiratory virus. Many airlines now require passengers to wear a mask during flights except for mealtimes, and some are blocking off middle seats to allow more distancing between people. Companies have also implemented rigorous cleaning procedures between flights. So how does this translate into overall risk?
“An airplane cabin is probably one of the most secure conditions you can be in,” says Sebastian Hoehl of the Institute for Medical Virology at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, who has co-authored two papers on COVID-19 transmission on specific flights, which were published in JAMA Network Open and the New England Journal of Medicine, respectfully'
You realize there's a worldwide pandemic going on that's causing people to be sick for days and weeks at a time, repeatedly, right? And that nearly all airports and airlines have given up the most basic mitigations like mask wearing mandates to prevent spread.
I still don't feel safe with flying. Literally every time I get on a plane I get sick, you cannot convince me they are safe against the spread of Covid. There's more to that than just air circulation.
> Airplanes are also stuffed like sardine cans with people, some of whom may be contagious. Not even N95 would save you after 5 hours in that environment
Airplanes shove the air from their cabin through hospital-or-grade air filters every 1.5-2 minutes (that is, the amount of time air can "hang" before being filtered maxes at 2 minutes if on the lowest setting, 1.5 on a normal setting. Those filters will catch the particles half the size of COVID at at least 99.99%. Also, the airflow is designed to get replaced with air from outside the plane regularly, and airflow is designed to really be isolated in any 3 seat element (obviously, not exclusively, but most air is only going to be shared with your neighbors.
Being on an actual airplane is probably one of the safer places to be indoors. Everyone knows about contagion on cruise ships. Why aren't there stories about airborne outbreaks on airplanes?
I just learned that an acquaintance of mine flew on a plane knowing they had tested positive for covid. Or my partner's family just had a family get-together (she didn't go) while one her family members had covid.
In the former case, policy changes to reduce likelihood of people flying with covid (temp checks, affidavits, allowing removal of obviously ill passengers), and to increase ventilation and filtration on planes, and perhaps to even bring back masks or at the very least encourage or incentivize them in times of high transmission.
I don't know that we can do much about the latter case other than better public health education and perhaps PSAs.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7298691/
I have raised this issue with everyone I could think of and nobody cares, or is willing to tell CPAP users they can't fly. This proves to me that the people in charge don't care about reducing COVID exposure.
I do wear properly-fitted genuine N95s while flying and have never had any flight staff tell me I couldn't.
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