At this stage, the epidemic affects people at all times. Along with the information on the progress of the epidemic, there are a large number of popular science articles. However, on WeChat groups, circle of friends and other social media and the Internet, there are also all kinds of rumors about new coronary pneumonia. Are these rumors true?
Zhong Nanshan: Hubei lifted restrictions in mid-April
Recently, the number of newly diagnosed cases of new coronary pneumonia across the country has shown a downward trend, with an increase of zero in many places. Eight provinces including Gansu, Liaoning, and Guizhou have lowered their emergency response levels for public health emergencies.
Good news followed, and the news of Academician Zhong Nanshan's "lifting of the ban" began to appear on the Internet. According to the news, Academician Zhong Nanshan made preliminary predictions on lifting restrictions in various places, which mentioned that most provinces will lift restrictions around March 10-25, and Hubei will lift restrictions around April 15. is this real?
A few days ago, the People's Daily WeChat public account made it clear that Academician Zhong Nanshan had not made similar predictions. For specific arrangements of production and life in various places, please pay attention to the authoritative news from the local government.
A reporter from the Science and Technology Daily checked the recent public reports about Academician Zhong Nanshan. The incident that was barely related was during a remote video consultation on February 17. Academician Zhong Nanshan explained the peak of the epidemic situation simulated by the model. He said that according to the model, the number of cases across the country will reach its peak in mid-late February, but it does not mean that it will decline immediately after reaching the peak. It is still uncertain whether the peak has been reached and it will take a few more days to observe. The country should be the end of April. Academician Zhong Nanshan emphasized that this is just a very rough estimate.
It can be seen that the above remarks are from the perspective of scientific demonstration to discuss the development of the epidemic, and did not mention the relevant predictions of "lifting the ban" in various places. When logging into the official websites of the people's governments of the relevant provinces and the Health and Health Commission, no specific time notice has been found.
Ordinary mask pad tissues can block virus transmission rumors
Masks are necessary equipment for residents to enter and exit densely populated places during the anti-epidemic period. As everyone knows, disposable medical surgical masks, KN95 / N95 and other masks have better protection effects. However, facing the current situation of "hard to find a mask," many people have begun to show their magic in the search for alternatives.
Recently, users on social platforms have frequently seen tips: Putting a few layers of paper towels in an ordinary mask can block the virus infection and play a similar role as a medical mask.
Is this really the case? "The effect will not be significantly improved." Professor Jin Xiangyu, deputy director of the Industrial Textile Engineering Center of the Ministry of Education and the Department of Nonwoven Materials and Engineering of Donghua University, said in an interview with the reporter of Science and Technology Daily that medical surgical masks, KN95 / N95 masks, etc. The protective layer is a surface layer and a filter layer that are specially treated inside and outside the mask. Ordinary masks do not have such a high-performance filter layer, and the effect of preventing particles with viruses is greatly reduced. Even if a few layers of paper towels are used, they cannot intercept or adsorb tiny particles in the air.
In the circle of friends, videos of self-made masks made of woven fabrics, cling film and other materials within the daily life of residents are often seen. Similarly, this kind of self-made masks without a professional filter layer is not very reliable.
Since the filter layer is a necessary condition for effective protection of the mask, can several layers of paper towels be added to the disposable medical surgical mask, KN95 / N95 and other masks to extend the life of the mask?
In Jin Xiangyu's view, there are several problems with this approach. First, the function of paper towels is mainly to wipe, such as wiping hands and sweat. The density of paper is higher than that of non-woven fabrics. The permeability of several layers of paper towels is reduced, which affects the human body's breathing. Because the wet strength of the paper towel is very low, it will break quickly when wet, which will affect the wearing comfort. Because the filter layer of the above mask is made of polypropylene meltblown microfiber electret nonwoven material, contact with water, alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, cooking, etc. during application will affect the protective effect. However, the outer surfaces of disposable medical surgical masks and medical masks in KN95 masks are treated with hydrophobic and liquid repellent treatment. The inner layer that contacts the skin is made of soft non-woven fabric, so the water absorption effect of paper towels is a bit ribbed.
Some non-medical types (that is, KN95 / N95 masks with breathing valves worn by most ordinary people) are not hydrophobically treated on the surface, and paper towels seem to help absorb water, but it is difficult to practice. For one thing, once a normal paper towel is wet, its strength will be greatly reduced, and it will be easily damaged. In this case, padding paper towels will not help much, but it will increase the risk of fingers touching the infected face of the mask when changing paper towels. Second, if paper towels with higher wet strength are used, there will be a more obvious feeling of suffocation, because these paper towels tend to have poor breathability.
"More importantly, if some ordinary paper towels with wet strength agents touch the nose, nose and lips for a long time, the chemicals attached to them may be harmful to human health." Jin Xiangyu said.
Rumors of ostrich egg antibodies making anti-virus masks
Recently, in a video clip circulating in the circle of friends, Japanese researchers claimed that the antibodies made from ostrich eggs were made into a filter layer and placed in protective masks, which could completely kill the virus and completely block the possibility of infection. is this real?
Recently, scientific rumor-sweeping platforms hosted by ministries and commissions such as the China Association for Science and Technology, the Health and Health Commission, the Ministry of Emergency Management, and the General Administration of Market Regulation have clearly included this information in the rumor category. Zhang Hao, a special researcher at the Institute of Industrial Science of Osaka University in Japan, said that although this idea is good, antibodies extracted from ostrich eggs are largely commercial gimmicks. In order to increase the added value of products, many manufacturers continue to introduce various gimmicks into the products. For example, there are dozens of masks on the Japanese market that claim to use antiviral materials, and the principles are even more varied. There is a biological protective layer similar to the so-called ostrich egg antibody, and there is a virus inactivation layer that claims to use chemical and physical principles. However, the actual antiviral effect of such masks has never been recognized by official health agencies.
Jin Xiangyu also said that at present no anti-neovirus masks have been confirmed by official agencies such as the World Health Organization. "At present, masks can be sterilized at most, that is, ethylene oxide is sterilized before leaving the factory, but during the short-term use of the masks, the virus cannot be actively eliminated, which is why we do not advocate using" antibacterial "as a new crown. The cause of gimmicks selling viral masks is a matter of life. Not to mention, compared to antibacterials, antivirus is another completely different concept. "
Sunburn kills new coronavirus rumors
On January 27, in the "Diagnosis and Treatment of Pneumonia of New Coronavirus Infection (Trial Version 4)" jointly issued by the National Health and Health Commission and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the description of the virus's sensitivity to ultraviolet rays was added. In addition, the virus Sensitivity to heat has also been mentioned in previous editions of the "Diagnosis and Treatment Program". Because sunlight contains ultraviolet rays and can bring heat, rumors are gradually circulating on the Internet that as long as you go out to sun, you can kill the new coronavirus. is this real?
Ma Ke, deputy chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said in an interview with the media that when there is an ultraviolet light, the ultraviolet light is irradiated once a day in an unmanned room, and it can have a disinfection effect for more than 1 hour each time. A temperature of 56 ° C for 30 minutes can also effectively inactivate the virus. However, the sun's irradiation temperature can neither reach 56 ° C, nor can the intensity of sunlight ultraviolet rays reach the intensity of ultraviolet lamps. Therefore, the statement that "the sun can kill the new coronavirus" is not reliable.
In addition, although ultraviolet lamps can be sterilized, ordinary people should pay special attention when using them. Recently, there have been frequent reports of eye pain and tears when watching ultraviolet lamps. Yang Leilei, an ophthalmologist at the Fourth Hospital of Wuhan City, suggested that one of the principles of UV disinfection is to coagulate and denature proteins, so it is particularly easy to cause corneal epithelium to shed. Even if people don't look directly at the UV light source, if they stay in the room where the UV light is turned on for a long time, it is also possible to "hit the trick". Therefore, when using ultraviolet lamps for disinfection, people should leave the site, and after use, ventilate for a period of time before entering the room.
Intern reporter Yu Ziyue