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Risk of COVID-19 exposure on planes “virtually nonexistent” when masked

jksobonya
Aviator A

The latest from ABC News about COVID-19 exposure on planes - the risk is very, very minimal. 

(I’d argue that catching any virus on an airplane is minimal even in normal times without a mask, but well, that is another topic for another day ;)) 


https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/risk-covid-19-exposure-planes-virtually-nonexistent-masked/story?id=...

 

— Jessica 

3 REPLIES 3

Re: Risk of COVID-19 exposure on planes “virtually nonexistent” when masked

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

If only places I wanted to go were actually open.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Risk of COVID-19 exposure on planes “virtually nonexistent” when masked

SWFlyer007
Aviator C

That makes me feel safer, but not enough to remove my mask or to have anyone else do so as well.  

Re: Risk of COVID-19 exposure on planes “virtually nonexistent” when masked

chgoflyer
Aviator A

This is fantastic news. This study reinforces what we already knew, which is that masks are necessary to prevent the spread of the virus on board a plane. Most especially, the study highlighted the importance of everyone, including the potentially infected person, wearing a mask continuously throughout the flight. As we know, unfortunately this remains problematic for a few reasons. Some flyers continue to be non-compliant with mask wearing. And airlines do allow the removal of a mask while eating or drinking. The study also did not test for an infected person moving throughout the cabin, as when using the restroom for example. However, the main takeaway is that if we all remain masked our exposure risk in total is very low.

 

Actual travel inside the plane is only a small part of a travel experience, and risks remain in other areas. But hopefully this will assuage concerns of those fearful about traveling on board a plane.

 

And as noted above, for the industry to truly recover, we'll have to have available destinations that are not under quarantine or otherwise blocked. Unfortunately, numbers are still rising in many areas, so it may still be a while before that happens.