Scientists at the University of Arizona have unleashed a live virus that is harmless to humans but more resistant than corona on a plane. With the study, they want to test whether the advanced cleaning techniques used since the pandemic kill the virus and make flying safe. “The processes work,” says aircraft maker Boeing, who collaborated with the researchers. ‘The technologies reduce the risk of contamination.’
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The research is in line with research by the US Department of Defense. The government researchers used a manikin to simulate a passenger coughing. When that doll was wearing a mouth mask, it turned out that only 0.003% of the virus particles reached other passengers. According to the researchers, this shows that you run a limited risk, even if you sit next to someone who is coughing, because the mask reduces exposure.
“It is not one thing, but all the different measures together that make flying very safe,” said virologist Carlos Del Rio of the Emory School of Medicine, a university in the US state of Georgia. Flying should therefore be safe due to the advanced cleaning techniques, the air circulation system on devices, filter systems that resemble those of hospitals and the wearing of a mouth mask.
However, critics point out that the studies were conducted in collaboration with the aircraft industry and that the results may be less reliable. In addition, it is difficult to get exact figures on the spread of the coronavirus, because some patients show no symptoms and because contact tracing does not work properly in the United States, it sounds. Governors of various states therefore call on their residents to think carefully about anything that is non-essential, such as travel.
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