如果冠狀病毒停留在空氣中，我該如何保護自己?

如果冠狀病毒停留在空氣中，我該如何保護自己?

I'm hearing a lot of talk about the coronavirus spreading through aerosols — is wearing a mask in a grocery store enough protection? What else should I do to stay safe?

我聽了很多關(guān)于冠狀病毒通過氣溶膠傳播的討論——在雜貨店戴口罩就足夠了嗎?我還應(yīng)該做些什么來保證安全?

Quick answer first: Going to the grocery store where you and everyone else is wearing a mask and keeping a distance from each other is still considered a low-risk activity.

去雜貨店時，你和其他人都戴著口罩，彼此保持距離，這仍然被認為是一種低風(fēng)險的活動。

For background, aerosols are tiny microdroplets that can be expelled when we talk or breathe and can stay aloft and travel on air currents. It's still unclear how much of a role they play in spreading the virus, but recently more than 200 scientists wrote an open letter asking the World Health Organization to pay more attention to them.

作為背景資料，氣溶膠是一種微小液滴，在我們說話或呼吸時可被排出，并可停留在高空，隨著氣流傳播。目前尚不清楚它們在病毒傳播中發(fā)揮了多大作用，但最近，200多名科學(xué)家寫了一封公開信，要求世界衛(wèi)生組織對它們給予更多關(guān)注。

The agency still maintains that the greater risk of spread appears to be from droplets — larger particles, also expelled when we talk or breathe, which settle more quickly and are less likely to accumulate in the air. However, WHO released a new scientific brief on July 9 saying that airborne transmission might happen in crowded, poorly-ventilated indoor spaces such as gyms, choir practice rooms and nightclubs. But how much transmission aerosolized particles are responsible for, versus droplets and contaminated surfaces, they can't say for sure.

該機構(gòu)仍然認為，傳播的更大風(fēng)險似乎來自于飛沫——當(dāng)我們說話或呼吸時也會排出的較大顆粒，它們沉降得更快，在空氣中積聚的可能性更小。然而，世界衛(wèi)生組織在7月9日發(fā)布的一份新的科學(xué)簡報中說，空氣傳播可能會發(fā)生在擁擠、通風(fēng)不良的室內(nèi)空間，比如健身房、唱詩班練習(xí)室和夜總會。但與飛沫和受污染的表面相比，懸浮微粒在多大程度上造成了傳播，他們還不能確定。

If you want to err on the side of caution, here's what some infectious disease researchers say can help minimize the risks:

如果你想謹小慎微，以下是一些傳染病研究人員所說的可以幫助你將風(fēng)險最小化的方法:

Face away from people when you talk: When you're talking face to face with someone, you're in direct line of the plumes of breath that come out of their mouths when they speak. "If there's any scenario where I'm face to face, with someone, I move my head off-center so I'm no longer inhaling that direct plume," says Seema Lakdawala, a flu transmission researcher at the University of Pittsburgh.

當(dāng)你與人交談時，臉要遠離對方：當(dāng)你和某人面對面交談時，你正處于他們說話時從嘴里呼出的縷縷氣息的直線上。”匹茲堡大學(xué)流感傳播研究人員西瑪·拉克達瓦拉說：“如果我和某人面對面，我會把頭移開，這樣我就不會再吸入直接的氣息了。”

Wear your mask properly: Wear a layered cloth mask in public spaces, especially if you're indoors or in a setting where you can't socially distance. Make sure it covers your nose and mouth. This will catch many of the droplets that come out when you breathe or speak and prevent them from getting into the air.

正確佩戴口罩:在公共場合戴一個多層的布制口罩，尤其是當(dāng)你在室內(nèi)或者在一個你不能與他人保持社交距離的場合。確保它能蓋住你的鼻子和嘴巴。這將捕捉你呼吸或說話時噴出的許多飛沫，防止它們進入空氣中。

Make the indoors more like the outdoors: "You limit aerosol transmission by increasing ventilation and increasing air circulation — by opening a window, putting on a fan and just moving the air," says Lakdawala, who keeps several fans running at all times in her lab and office space.

讓室內(nèi)更像室外:“你可以通過增加通風(fēng)和增加空氣流通來限制氣溶膠的傳播——通過打開窗戶，安裝風(fēng)扇，讓空氣流動，” 拉克達瓦拉說，她在她的實驗室和辦公室里一直開著幾臺風(fēng)扇。