State of emergency declared again in 11 prefectures
On January 13, Japanese government declared a state of emergency in Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Aichi, Gifu, Tochigi, and Fukuoka, following the three prefectures of Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, and Saitama.
According to the recommendations of the Subcommittee on Countermeasures for Infectious Diseases of the New Coronavirus on January 5, countermeasures are mainly focused on eating and drinking places, based on a paper published in the British scientific journal Nature, etc. However, it is also said that “there is a risk of rapid spread of infection nationwide,” and it is necessary to implement thorough infection prevention measures widely.
What is the preventive effect of wearing a mask?
Hand disinfection, wearing masks, and ventilation are recommended as infection prevention measures, but the preventive effect of masks depends on the material used.
The results of an experiment published last October by the Toyohashi University of Technology show numerical changes when wearing a mask (non-woven fabric, cloth, or urethane), a face shield, and a mouth shield.
According to the results of the same experiment, the amounts of discharged droplets out of the body can be reduced to about 20% with non-woven fabric and cloth, but 50% with urethane and 90% with a mouth shield. As for the amounts of droplets inhaled, non-woven fabrics can reduce droplets to about 30%, while urethane can reduce droplets to 60-70%, and face shields and mouth shields have no effect on small droplets.
What is the relationship between vocalization and droplet volume?
In addition, in response to the problem of infections caused by Karaoke, eating, and drinking, experiments are being conducted to see how the expiratory flow rate changes when talking, shouting, singing, eating, and drinking.
According to the results of the experiment, the amounts of large droplets increase about 10 times more in Karaoke and loud conversations than in normal conversations, and the momentum of the droplets increases about 1.5 to 2 times. In addition, the distance that the droplets can reach is increased by about 1.5 times, so it is necessary to keep a sufficient distance between people and to ventilate sufficiently because the number of small droplets is also doubled.
To prevent infection in the workplace
On January 8, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) asked labor-management organizations and economic organizations to cooperate in the active use of telework, prevention of infection in the workplace, and strengthening of health management. For the sake of your company’s business continuity, please take proactive measures to prevent infection in the workplace.
