Cleveland Commonweal Local Community Network

Talking Can Generate Coronavirus Droplets That Linger Up to 14 Minutes NYT: A new study shows how respiratory droplets produced during normal conversation may be just as important in transmitting disease, especially indoors. The research, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help explain how people with mild or no symptoms may infect others in close quarters such as offices, nursing homes, cruise ships and other confined spaces. The study’s experimental conditions will need to be replicated in more real-world circumstances, and researchers still don’t know how much virus has to be transmitted from one person to another to cause infection. But its findings strengthen the case for wearing masks and taking other precautions in such environments to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Various scientific studies have shown that singing  dramatically increases the transmission of viruses. A recent webinar to discuss these scien...

THE PROBLEM by  Jack Rakosky, PhD The State of Ohio began to reopen businesses on May 1st. Religious organizations have never been subject to the Stay at Home orders.  Almost all have complied. Catholic Bishops of Ohio have announced that they are planning for possible resumption at parish worship at the end of May on Pentecost Sunday. Why should parishes not reopen if most other businesses are opening?   Because many if not most of those who attend are the elderly. The State of Ohio recommends that the elderly and other vulnerable populations remain at home. These are the populations that the State of Ohio will be tracking through an expanded network of public health personnel. The elderly who come down with the virus will be asked about their contacts in the previous week. If many of these report they went to church, parishes are likely to be labeled as "hot spots" and the church will get a bad reputation for not protecting its elderly.  During my profe...