The 6-Feet COVID Rule Can Kill You – CDC Flip Flops; Airborne Particles Deadly Over Great Distances; Think Cobras
Q2 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 21, 2020) The CDC has just removed from its website a warning that maintaining a 6-foot distance from others does not provide adequate protection from the deadly coronavirus because it is spread through tiny droplets that remain in the air and can drift much further.
Indeed, relying upon the generally accepted 6-foot social distancing rule to keep you safe from the deadly and very contagious coronavirus can easily get you killed, says professor John Banzhaf, who helped get smoking banned in most workplaces and public places by showing that even minute and invisible amounts of airborne tobacco smoke particles, far from the source, can still kill.
Some people seem to be relying upon - or at least publicly claiming to base their decisions on - the concept that not going within 6 feet of another person will always provide sufficient protection from infection and the death, disability, or prolonged hospitalization too often caused by COVID-19.
But we now know that this is simply not true, and people should not continue to bet their lives on a concept which apparently was developed and popularized long before we had more complete information about the virus and how easily it is spread, argues Banzhaf.
In short, it makes little sense to play Russian COVID roulette by maintaining a 6-foot separation, and pretend that there are no risks.
The Chinese Restaurant Incident
Despite conventional wisdom that maintaining a separation of 6 feet is sufficient to prevent transmission of the virus, a very careful study from an actual incident in a restaurant in China shows that one infected diner was able to and did - in a real life (not a simulated or theoretical) situation - transmit the virus to, and cause the deadly COVID-19 in, another diner some 4.5 meters [14.8 feet] away.
There are now also documented instances where one congregant infected others much more than 6 feet and several pews away in a church or other worship gathering.
As a followup to the restaurant incident, scientists at the Universities of Oregon and California (Davis) have shown that, in an enclosed area such as a restaurant or classroom, normal air circulation can spread virus particles suspended in the air far beyond the nominal 6-foot social distance some bureaucrats purport to rely upon.
To help put this in context, says Banzhaf, consider this example. Many experts claim that a king cobra has an attack range which can be up to 2 meters (just over 6 feet), but suggest that they rarely strike unless provoked.
Walking Through A Field Of King Cobras
Based upon this assurance from experts, would any reasonable person willingly walk through a field of king cobras, provided they would never be closer than 7 feet from any one snake?
Moreover, scientists at MIT have shown that germs in a sneeze can travel some 200 feet - much further than the distance which many recommend should be maintained from others, indoors as well as outdoors.
Still another study shows that a single passenger with COVID-19 on an airplane can infect more than a dozen other passengers several rows in front as well as behind him, despite the state-of-the-art HVAC systems on modern airplanes which are certainly far superior to the ventilation systems in many restaurants and other places of business.
So Banzhaf, joining expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, suggests that people - especially those over 65 and/or with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, etc. - should not bet their lives on a discredited 6-foot guideline, unless they would be willing to walk within 7 feet of king cobras.
