Three C’s

As the world reopens, including the Philippines reemerging from what has been the longest lockdown in the whole universe, we’re going to hear more and more of three C’s to help us safeguard the gains we’ve made against COVID-19.

This is how it goes: To avoid the Big Bad C (COVID-19), be careful about crowds, confined places, and close distances between people.

The three C’s are going to be useful as well to better explain how one gets infected, with so many misconceptions going around, sometimes even among health professionals.

I just have to mention, too, that I went to the extent of taking an online Coursera module on contact tracing, a really good one organized by Johns Hopkins University. I did it for many reasons, including getting a taste of online learning because I have to teach online starting in August, and proving that someone 67.75 years old can still go back to school and take quizzes and exams, I tell you, I was so anxious about doing the finals with 40 questions, and I’m pleased to say I passed—hoy, 94.1 percent.

Think physics when looking at the three C’s, meaning look at the mechanics behind the transmission, which is mainly people to people and not, as I’ve been trying to emphasize in several columns, through the wind as in “nasa hangin.”

The transmission takes place when an infected person sends out, through the mouth and nose, droplets and aerosols (also referred to as mini-droplets) containing the virus. Droplets are larger, such as those that come from cough, and will quickly drop to the ground (or other surfaces). Aerosols are finer mists, sent out further than droplets through sneezing, talking, and singing, the viral load being higher with the force of expulsion, as when the police or mayor shouts at someone.

The risk of infection is also higher when the person has just been infected, because the body has not had time to mobilize its defenses, i.e., producing antibodies. Conversely, there are people more prone to being infected because their immune systems are weakened by other diseases like hypertension, lung diseases, or by medicines (for example, kidney transplant patients taking immunosuppressant drugs).

Let’s connect now with the three C’s that we want to avoid:

Crowds are a problem, obviously, because the more people you are with, the greater the chance there’s someone who is infected. Unfortunately, we don’t think of parties as crowds, or karaoke, or cockfighting, all of which have been documented as spreading infections. We have to unlearn old cultural habits. When we see a crowd, instead of shouting out, “Ang daming tao, ang saya, tara na!” let’s go, “Daming tao, siguro daming virus.”

Confined places, meaning indoors, are riskier. It’s well documented that infections occur mainly in homes, hospitals, homes for the aged, prisons, offices and factories, transport vehicles. The problem is when the infectious aerosols and droplets stay suspended in the air; in fact, it’s better if there’s wind to disperse the viral mobs.

So if you really have to meet with someone you haven’t seen in a while, suggest an outdoor venue, even the garden. If you need to meet indoors, suggest keeping the windows open to keep air circulating.

Transport vehicles are also confined places, but air recirculation and filtering is pretty good in planes, and in subways and trains in places like Hong Kong and Singapore. I don’t know about the circulation and filtering in our LRT and MRT. I would feel safer in an unair-conditioned jeep, and definitely I would avoid the FX.

Finally, close contact. Remember again that even a conversation can pass on the virus. And there are some local quirks that scare me: Men especially tend to speak and laugh too loudly, and sneeze too forcefully. Parents, start training your children, especially your sons, that a macho sneeze can be deadly. One sound advice from a CityLab article (references at the end of this article): Reduce talking (chattering) when in public transport vehicles.

And don’t forget: In all circumstances, if you’re not sure who you’re with, use masks or shields, and practice physical distancing.

Ready to reemerge into the world? Read “How to Safely Travel on Mass Transit” on CityLab (citylab.com). Also, “How to Hug” in the New York Times (nytimes.com) transforms hugging into an educational opportunity as you learn about breathing zones, aerosols, and droplets.

—————

mtan@inquirer.com.ph