no “safest spot” for passengers to ­minimise risk of Covid

[whole diary]

[Marlburian]

Daily Mirror

[jamestheredengine]

I'm rather of the view that the safest spot is in First Class. Fewer people surely means less risk.

[GBM]

I'm rather of the view that the safest spot is in First Class. Fewer people surely means less risk.

Unless it is declassified on a short form!

[stuving]

Daily Mirror

If you look at the Mirror's words, they say:

The researchers, having developed a mathematical model to help predict the risk of disease transmission in a train, found, in the absence of ­effective ventilation systems, the risk is the same along the entire length of the carriage.

So no real trains were harmed, or even used, in this work. And what is "effective ventilation"? Would "good enough to prevent pathogens spreading throughout a carriage" be a reasonable working definition?

[Ralph Ayres]

All a bit vague and unhelpful; perhaps the full report was better than the snippets the Mirror picked out.  The implied criticism of recirculating air is somewhat unfair as it makes perfect sense in energy terms rather than constantly trying to heat or cool new air from outside.  Analysis of any benefits of filtering the air while recirculating it might be interesting, and at the risk of kicking off a heated debate I note that wearing a high-quality mask to protect the wearer is suggested when at the height of the pandemic we were told that wearing a mask protected others not ourselves.

[ellendune]

All a bit vague and unhelpful; perhaps the full report was better than the snippets the Mirror picked out.  The implied criticism of recirculating air is somewhat unfair as it makes perfect sense in energy terms rather than constantly trying to heat or cool new air from outside.  Analysis of any benefits of filtering the air while recirculating it might be interesting, and at the risk of kicking off a heated debate I note that wearing a high-quality mask to protect the wearer is suggested when at the height of the pandemic we were told that wearing a mask protected others not ourselves.

The gold standard is filtration and UV treatment of air, though UV treatment might be all that is necessary. 

[broadgage]

I have previously suggested the UV treatment of air to reduce the spread of infection, in trains and elsewhere.
Germicidal UV lamps are readily available and can be fitted to most types of air conditioning and ventilating equipment.
Any significant direct exposure of persons to the UV light should be avoided as it is dangerous to the eyes and skin.

Germicidal UV lamps may also be fitted to directly irradiate the interior of a railway carriage or other place, this will kill viruses and bacteria exposed to the UV. Care must be taken to ensure that no persons are present when doing this.

Decades ago, I had to replace large numbers of germicidal UV lamps in a hospital laundry, I was under strict instructions to destroy the used lamps by smashing them into a skip, to prevent improper re-use and danger.