Corona Virus, Like Secondhand Smoke, Can Kill at a Great Distance

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Corona Virus, Like Secondhand Smoke, Can Kill at a Great Distance; Even Minute Amounts. Through Vents or Drifting, Can Cause Death – Expert

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Corona Virus Can Linger In The Air

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 6, 2020) -  More than 200 scientists from over 30 countries have warned the WHO that the corona virus can linger in the air in minute aerosols which are deadly even in tiny amounts, and can be spread by drifting air circulation or through shared vent systems in buildings.

In this way they are like the tiny aerosol particles of tobacco smoke which were long thought to present no danger to nonsmokers far from the smoker, but which were eventually proven to cause cancer and heart attacks even in the minute amounts which drifted into so-called "no-smoking" sections, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who started and then led the battle to ban smoking in workplaces and public places, both the in the U.S. and increasingly also abroad.

Indeed. notes Banzhaf, having no-smoking sections of restaurants and officers is no better than having no-peeing sections in swimming pools; it just doesn't work.

As with the corona virus, tobacco smoke was originally thought to endanger only those who inhaled large amount by smoking, or perhaps by standing only a few feet from a smoker.

Suggestions that it might risk those at the far end of a restaurant or office, or even those in another room, were originally dismissed, even by responsible scientists, says Banzhaf.

But the evidence is now so overwhelming that even cigarette manufacturers have been forced to admit it; secondhand tobacco smoke can be deadly, even at a distance, says Banzhaf, who has testified as an expert witness.

Just Breathing Secondhand Smoke Can Cause Death

Thus, according to the CDC, breathing secondhand tobacco smoke causes the death of over 40,000 Americans each year, including many children.

Indeed, as the New York Times reported, "at least 6,200 children die each year in the United States because of their parents' smoking . . .   More young children are killed by parental smoking than by all unintentional injuries combined,"  although a small percentage of such deaths result from cigarette-caused fires rather than inhaling the deadly toxins in tobacco smoke.

The CDC has also warned that a nonsmoker's exposure for as little as 30 minutes to the limited amount of tobacco smoking drifting into the no-smoking section of a restaurant can substantially increase his risk of a heart attack to that of a smoker, and could in fact trigger a fatal heart attack.

Another parallel is that, just as it was once thought that the risk of death from drifting tobacco smoke could be reduced simply by maintaining a reasonable separation between the source and others, so too is the same claim being made today - i.e., maintain a social distance of 6 feet to be safe.

But, notes Banzhaf, although scientists claim that the maximum striking distance of a king cobra is only 6 feet, virtually no sane person would be willing to enter an area filled with king cobras, provided only that he never went closer than 6 feet (or even 8 feet) from any cobra, much less do it several days a week as office workers, teachers, and others are being told it is safe to do.

Safe Distance Doesn't Provide Protection

Eventually, and only after great delay, and the death of tens of thousands of innocent victims, it was realized that maintaining a "safe distance" from someone smoking didn't provide even a reasonable amount of protection - so smoking was eventually banned in most indoor areas.

Since we obvious can't ban anyone who might be a carrier of the virus from breathing or even from talking indoors, the only reasonable remedy is to require an effective mask for everyone indoors.

Voluntary compliance with no-smoking requests never worked with smoking, says Banzhaf, and we should not make the same mistake again by simply asking or just urging social distancing to protect against aerosol infection from the coronavirus.