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Staff Reporter

Washington Water Service Enters into Agreement to Acquire

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GIG HARBOR, Wash., Feb. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Washington Water Service (Washington Water), a subsidiary of California Water Service Group (Group), signed an agreement to acquire the water utility assets of Driftwood Valley Association. The acquisition is subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions and approval by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC).

Driftwood Valley Water, owned and operated by the homeowners association, currently serves 62 customers in Yelm, Wash., located in Thurston County. Washington Water will also provide service to new customers in the association as its 21 empty lots are developed.

“We appreciate the confidence Driftwood Valley Association has in us to serve its residents and look forward to working with its team and the WUTC to complete the transaction,” said Martin A. Kropelnicki, Group President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are committed to providing quality, service, and value to all of our Washington Water customers and also look forward to ultimately delivering the same to Driftwood Valley residents.” 

About Washington Water Service and California Water Service Group
Washington Water Service provides regulated water utility service to 36,000 customer connections in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, King, San Juan, and Thurston counties, as well as wastewater service on Orcas Island.  Washington Water is a wholly owned subsidiary of California Water Service Group, which also includes California Water Service, Hawaii Water Service, New Mexico Water Service, and Texas Water Service, a utility holding company. Together, these companies provide regulated water and wastewater utility service to more than 2 million people in over 100 California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington communities. Group’s common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CWT.” Additional information is available online at www.calwatergroup.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“Act”). The forward-looking statements are intended to qualify under provisions of the federal securities laws for “safe harbor” treatment established by the Act. Forward-looking statements are based on currently available information, expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections, and management’s judgment about the Company, the water utility industry and general economic conditions. Such words as would, expects, intends, plans, believes, estimates, assumes, anticipates, projects, predicts, forecasts or variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. They are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from what is contained in a forward-looking statement. Factors that may cause a result different than expected or anticipated include, but are not limited to: ability to close the acquisition of Driftwood Valley Water, integrate the business, and operate the Driftwood Valley system in an effective and accretive manner; natural disasters, public health crises, pandemics, epidemics or outbreaks of a contagious disease, such as the outbreak of coronavirus (or COVID‐19); governmental and regulatory commissions’ decisions, including decisions on proper disposition of property; consequences of eminent domain actions relating to our water systems; changes in regulatory commissions’ policies and procedures; the timeliness of regulatory commissions’ actions concerning rate relief and other actions; changes in water quality standards; changes in environmental compliance and water quality requirements; electric power interruptions; housing and customer growth trends; the impact of opposition to rate increases; our ability to recover costs; availability of water supplies; issues with the implementation, maintenance or security of our information technology systems; civil disturbances or terrorist threats or acts; the adequacy of our efforts to mitigate physical and cyber security risks and threats; the ability of our enterprise risk management processes to identify or address risks adequately; labor relations matters as we negotiate with unions; changes in customer water use patterns and the effects of conservation; the impact of weather, climate, natural disasters, and diseases on water quality, water availability, water sales and operating results, and the adequacy of our emergency preparedness; and, other risks and unforeseen events. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the cautionary statements included in this paragraph, as well as the annual 10-K, Quarterly 10-Q, and other reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Company assumes no obligation to provide public updates of forward-looking statements.

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Federal Funds Will Help Convert Schools To Shelters In The Next Heatwave

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Multnomah County and Portland Public Schools will get federal assistance this year to plan how to use school buildings as places for people to escape extreme heat and wildfire smoke. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the county and school district a non-monetary grant to help evaluate how selected schools could serve as clean air and cooling centers, particularly in summer when school isn’t in session, according to a Monday, Feb. 14, announcement from Multnomah County. 

Extreme heat and wildfire smoke were listed as the most likely risks to human health in both Multnomah County’s Climate Change and Public Health Preparation Plan and Climate Action Plan. 

County officials cited the worst air quality on record in Oregon during the 2020 Labor Day fires and last June’s “heat dome,” which brought record-breaking 116-degree heat to the region, in the grant announcement. Emergency room visits due to respiratory problems roughly doubled during the smoke event, officials said, adding that the extreme heat event caused at least 69 deaths in the county. 

Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury said in a statement the heat dome was a wake-up call for the community. 

“The climate crisis is here, now,” Kafoury said. “It’s imperative that we take urgent action to create the infrastructure our community needs to be resilient in the face of extreme weather events fueled by global heating. Partnerships like this one are key ways for us to help our community stay safe while we work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The grant will provide for an EPA consultant team with expertise in community engagement, disaster policy and HVAC engineering to host workshops with local partners. 

The workshops will produce an action plan to retrofit identified schools as clean air and cooling centers, officials said. 

Goals of the action plan will include: improving school ventilation and filtration systems to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission and other airborne illnesses; creating healthy learning environments with improved indoor air quality; keeping schools open during more frequent extreme heat and smoke events; and making clean air and cooling centers in areas with more residents susceptible to serious health impacts from extreme heat and smoke. 

Multnomah County and PPS plan to partner with the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management and community-based organizations including Coalition of Communities of Color, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, Verde, IRCO, Native American Youth and Family Center and Home Forward. 

The grant provides for technical assistance only, so Multnomah County will need to find funding sources for any possible retrofitting identified in the action plan. 

County officials said the grant will make the county and PPS more competitive for state funds designated for air filtration systems in public buildings serving as clean air shelters. The funding is part of last year’s Senate Bill 762.

The city of Portland already is applying for funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to retrofit community buildings as heat and smoke centers, officials said, adding that PPS buildings could fit into the city’s plan for that funding. 

Additionally, a school improvement bond, which voters passed for PPS in 2020, provides $75 million to replace or repair high-priority mechanical systems, including heating, cooling and ventilation systems, in district schools. The grant will help identify those priority facilities, officials said. 

“If the fall of 2020 and the summer of 2021 have taught us anything, it’s the urgency of meeting the climate crisis for our most vulnerable community members,” said PPS board chair Michelle DePass in a statement. “The climate crisis is here and we need to take critical steps to ensure community resilience and the safety and well-being of our community members.” 

The workshops hosted by EPA consultants are expected to begin this summer, said Abby Hall, local and regional planning advisor at the EPA. 

Multnomah County was one of four locations selected for the EPA grants. Other locations to receive grants included Washington’s Kittitas County, Arizona’s Pima County, and California’s Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

This story was originally published by Pamplin Media Group.

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How Long After A Vasectomy Can You Have Sex?

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A vasectomy, or male sterilization, is a process by which the vas deferens is cut or blocked in order to keep sperm out of semen. An extremely effective form of birth control, it also is appealing thanks to its minimal side effects and swift recovery time. In fact, men who have a vasectomy can have sex not long after the procedure. Dr. Puneet Masson, MD, an assistant professor of Clinical Urology in Surgery and the director of Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at Penn Medicine, says the wait isn’t very long at all.

How Long After A Vasectomy Can You Have Sex?

“I tell patients that they can they can shower the next day and they can go out to dinner the next day, but they should do no strenuous activities for one week, and by that I mean no cardio or sexual activity for a week,” explains Dr. Masson.

The reason being is that a vasectomy is a surgical procedure and the body needs at least a week to heal.

How Is A Vasectomy Performed?

“The procedure takes about 20 minutes and patients can choose to go under local or conscious sedation — that’s like when you get your wisdom teeth out or twilight anesthesia where you can hear talking in the background” says Dr. Masson. At his clinic, it’s generally the patient’s choice which anesthesia is used.

“Then, when the patient is comfortable, we shave them down there. We prep them with a disinfecting solution and then we give the numbing medication directly in the scrotal skin,” Dr. Masson explains. “Then I find the vas deferens, which is the cord that carries the sperm. I cut that cord a tie off the edges. I burn the edges and I tuck one section of the tubes under a layer of tissue. Then I put one dissolvable stitch on the skin and move on to the other side.” One the surgery is complete, Dr. Masson says patients are put in a jock strap with a bunch of gauze and can head home. In fact, they can even drive themselves if they choose.

But because they have open wounds patients need time to heal which means keeping activity minimal.

“I typically do these surgeries on a Thursday or Friday. So I tell everyone that it’s not going to be a very exciting weekend for you. It’ll be chilling on your couch with a bag of frozen peas on your scrotum watching TV,” says Dr. Masson.

Once You Have Sex, Do You Still Use Contraception?

After a week of recovery, Dr. Masson says patients may go ahead and resume sex, but that doesn’t mean they can skip the contraceptives just yet.

“When you resume sexual relations, it’s really important to use some form of contraception until we get a sample that looks good,” says Dr. Masson. A sample means an ejaculation sample to confirm that the patient is, in fact, sterile. “Twenty ejaculations or two months, whatever comes first, is when we test.”

Only after a provider has received the sample results and given a vasectomy patient the green light can a person safely resume intercourse contraception-free without fear of pregnancy.

Why Choose Vasectomy?

How long after a vasectomy can you have sex is just a small delay in the long-run when you consider the freedom from fertility the procedure can provide.

“The failure rate of vasectomy is one in 2000,” says Dr. Masson. “So that is more effective than any other form of contraception, which includes oral contraceptives, condoms, IUDs, diaphragms, and lateral tubal ligation.”

For couples who want to allow a partner to get off hormonal birth control or avoid condoms, a vasectomy might be the right choice. And even though it’s considered permanent sterilization, Dr. Masson does perform vasectomy reversals for patients whose family plans have changed.

Expert

Dr. Puneet Masson, MD, an assistant professor of Clinical Urology in Surgery and the director of Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at Penn Medicine, pennmedicine.org/providers/profile/puneet-masson

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State Announces Expanded Home Weatherization Program

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More low-income Michigan families will be able to now take advantage of a program that provides free home weatherization to reduce energy costs by an average of $283 per year.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has $5 million available from the U.S. Department of Energy Weatherization Assistance Program to pay for home repairs that are sometimes needed before weatherization services can be provided.

Many homes in a state of disrepair cannot take advantage of weatherization funds. Those situations would often lead to a deferral – where an otherwise eligible home would not receive weatherization repairs or services because the materials installed could be compromised.

“Weatherizing homes is a great way to reduce energy costs for Michiganders and prevent low-income families from having to worry about affording their bills and staying warm and safe,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “Many families have suffered financial hardships due to the pandemic and have put off maintenance that needs to be addressed before their homes can be weatherized. I urge these families to take advantage of these new services that will lower their costs and keep them warm. We will continue finding ways to put Michiganders first and help them have the resources they need to thrive.”

Gov. Whitmer has proclaimed February to be Keep Michigan Warm Month.

The MDHHS Bureau of Community Action and Economic Opportunity administers the U.S. Department of Energy Weatherization Assistance Program, which benefits approximately 1,300 low-income families annually in Michigan. Community Action Agencies and non-profit organizations provide weatherization services at the local level.

Services funded by the pre-weatherization deferral dollars may include construction, reconstruction, improvement or repair of single-family and multi-family residential buildings to correct health and safety conditions as identified by the weatherization assistance program’s energy audit. Typical housing conditions that can lead to deferrals include mold and moisture damage, knob and tube wiring issues, other electrical issues, grading issues, roof damage, structural issues, plumbing issues, pest issues, ventilation issues, asbestos issues and radon.

“MDHHS wants to help as many residents as possible weatherize their homes to save money and energy,” said MDHHS Director Elizbeth Hertel. “High energy costs can cause families to fall behind on their utility bills or be forced to pay their energy bills with money that could otherwise be spent on nutritious food or other needs. No one should be ineligible for cost-saving weatherization assistance due to costly needed repairs.”

In a weatherization job, trained professionals known as energy auditors use computerized software and advanced diagnostic equipment such as blower doors and infrared cameras to create a comprehensive energy analysis of the home. This analysis determines the most cost-effective measures to install in each home. The energy auditor creates a customized work order so trained contractors and crew members can install the identified energy-efficient and health and safety measures.

These measures include items such as insulation, blower-door-guided air sealing of key leakage junctures, and installations such as lighting and water saving measures.

Health and safety issues such as elevated levels of carbon monoxide, moisture problems, mold, ventilation needs, and heating systems safety and efficiency are also addressed. There is growing evidence that the program provides benefits beyond energy savings. Improved indoor air quality and appropriate ventilation strategies lead to healthier living conditions in weatherized homes, which often lead to reduced asthma triggers and fewer doctor visits.

Anyone interested in applying for the Weatherization Assistance Program, even if they may have a reason for deferral, can contact their local provider. Eligibility is based on household income and home condition.

Training for those working in the Weatherization Assistance Program is provided by the Michigan Training and Education Center. For more information about the training, visit www.MichiganTEC.org.

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Mucus shell keeps viral payload moist, enhancing journey of respiratory droplets — ScienceDaily

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A modeling study raises questions about how far respiratory droplets, like those that transmit the virus that causes COVID-19, can travel before becoming harmless. Can the airborne particles that carry the virus remain infectious not just for a few feet but rather more than 200 feet, farther than the length of a hockey rink?

Experiments dating to the 1930s proposed two paths for respiratory droplets like those from a sneeze or cough. Either they are big and heavy, plummeting to the ground without much chance of infecting another person. Or they are so small and light that they dry out almost instantly, remaining airborne but becoming harmless very quickly. The dryness renders “enveloped” viruses like coronaviruses unable to infect.

But a new study from scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory suggests a third option — that small respiratory particles can remain moist and airborne for a longer time and greater distance than scientists have recognized.

“There are reports of people becoming infected with a coronavirus downwind of an infected person or in a room several minutes after an infected person has exited that room,” said Leonard Pease, the corresponding author of the study. The findings were published in the February issue of the journal International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer.

“The idea that enveloped virions may remain well hydrated and thus fully infective at substantial distances is consistent with real-world observations. Perhaps infectious respiratory droplets persist longer than we have realized,” Pease added.

The PNNL team took a long look at the mucus that coats the respiratory droplets that people spew from their lungs. Scientists know that mucus allows many viruses to travel further than they otherwise would, enabling them to journey from one person to another.

Conventional wisdom has been that very small, aerosolized droplets of just a few microns, like those produced in the lungs, dry out in air almost instantly, becoming harmless. But the PNNL team found that mucus changes the equation.

The team found that the mucus shell that surrounds respiratory droplets likely reduces the evaporation rate, increasing the time that viral particles within the droplets are kept moist. Since enveloped viruses like SARS-CoV-2 have a fatty coating that must be kept moist for the virus to be infectious, the slower evaporation allows viral particles to be infectious longer.

The team estimates that droplets encased in mucus could remain moist for up to 30 minutes and travel up to about 200 feet.

“While there have been many factors proposed as variables in how COVID spreads,” said Pease, “mucus remains largely overlooked.”

Authors of the paper include Pease and Nora Wang Esram, Gourihar Kulkarni, Julia Flaherty and Carolyn Burns.

Viral journeys between offices

The focus on mucus helps address another question: how the virus moves in a multiroom office building.

Hitching a ride within respiratory droplets is the first step for the virus to become airborne and infect those who breathe it in. Chemist Carolyn Burns had the task of creating artificial, respiratory-like droplets to study how the particles moved from room to room.

Ultimately, Burns settled on two substances to carry artificial virus-like particles. One was bovine mucus; the other was sodium alginate, a compound derived from brown seaweed. The compound is commonly used as a thickening agent in foods like ice cream and cheese.

The team used an airbrush to disperse droplets in one room of a multiroom laboratory building. Together, the droplets and airbrush simulated a person’s coughing fit, releasing particles for about one minute in a source room. A team led by Alex Vlachokostas and Burns measured droplet levels in two adjoining rooms with controlled building ventilation.

The team’s experimental findings, published Jan. 19 in Indoor Air, echo the findings of its previous modeling study, published last year in the journal Building and Environment.

The scientists found that both low and high levels of filtering were effective at reducing levels of respiratory droplets in all rooms. Filtration quickly cut down the levels of droplets in the adjoining rooms — within about three hours, to one-third the level or less without filtration.

The team also found that increasing ventilation rapidly reduced particle levels in the source room. But particle levels in the other connected rooms jumped immediately; levels spiked 20 to 45 minutes later with vigorous air changes increasing the spike. Ultimately, after the initial spike, levels of droplets in all the rooms gradually dropped after three hours with filtration and after five hours without it.

The scientists say that increased air exchange for crowded spaces may be beneficial in certain situations, like large conferences or school assemblies, but in normal work and school conditions, it may actually increase transmission rates throughout all rooms of a building.

“If you’re in a downstream room and you’re not the source of the virus, you probably are not better off with more ventilation,” said Pease.

Authors of the Indoor Air paper include Burns, Vlachokostas and Pease as well as Timothy Salsbury, Richard C. Daniel, Daniel P. James, Julia E. Flaherty, Nora Wang Esram, Ronald M. Underhill and Gourihar Kulkarni.

Both projects were funded through the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory, a consortium of all 17 DOE national laboratories focused on response to COVID-19, with funding provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The projects are among several studies at PNNL to learn more about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19.

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Skin Care and Beauty Tips to Help You Survive Winter

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Winter weather can wreak havoc on your skin and hair. Between all the dry, chapped and cracked skin, and frizz or damaged hair, this is the time of year to pay extra attention to self-care and beauty routines.

During the colder months, the American Academy of Dermatology Association (ADD) recommends adding moisture into your skin. All skin types need moisture, as lower temperatures, hot indoor air, and dry air everywhere can disrupt the skin’s barrier.

It’s the season to focus on all areas of self-care from head to toe. Healthy hair and moisture go hand in hand — no matter the time of year. There are some surprising ways to help keep your locks healthy and looking their best as winter winds snag and tangle hair, which can lead to breakage and split ends.

Beauty & Fashion Expert, Emily L. Foley talk to us about:

  • Keeping your skin soft and healthy 
  • How and when to hydrate your hair 
  • Avoiding chapped lips 
  • Looking and feeling your best throughout the winter months 

This segment is paid for by eos, KVD Beauty, Maui Moisture.

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7 Houseplants That May Be Good for Your Health

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Houseplants are definitely having a moment. Videos tagged with #houseplants have logged more than a half-billion views on TikTok, and other social media platforms, including Instagram and Pinterest, are bursting with photos of people showing off their houseplant collections.

“As working from home has increased in the past year, along with long periods of confinement, it’s no wonder that plants have become the new critical home essential,” says Nick Behr, cofounder of hydroponic gardening company Modern Sprout.

The sense of calm that taking care of a plant can bring is perhaps especially beneficial during a pandemic. Research, including a small study involving 24 young men published in 2015 in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology, suggested that nurturing a plant and watching it grow can reduce stress levels, soothe anxiety, and help you feel calmer. According to Brooke Blocker, the owner of eco-friendly online plant shop Outside In, there’s even a name for healing through plants: horticultural therapy.

“The act of caring for plants helps us step outside of ourselves and nurture a living thing,” notes Blocker. “I consider it a meditative practice — and actually, many plant parents are adding plant care to their self-care routine.”

RELATED: How to Start a Self-Care Routine You’ll Follow

The Potential Health Benefits of Keeping Houseplants

Keeping houseplants can also be good for your physical health, according to Behr — and even NASA has confirmed the helpful benefits of having certain kinds of plants in your home.

The 1989 NASA Clean Air Study, which was formally known as A Study of Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement, famously found that some plants could remove toxins from the air through the process of photosynthesis.

As plants photosynthesize, in a process called photosynthesis, they remove carbon dioxide from the air and produce oxygen. Plants can also absorb toxic chemicals from the air, and either metabolize them or incorporate them into their own tissues, according to a study and review of prior research published in March 2018 in Wireless Sensor Network.

That’s not even the end of the list of houseplant benefits. Plants increase oxygen levels in your home, which could potentially help to reduce headaches, improve focus, and boost your overall mood, says Navya Mysore, MD, a primary care physician with One Medical in New York City. Plants also increase the humidity in your house, which could potentially help alleviate dry skin, she says.

Many indoor plants may help remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. VOCs are emitted from a variety of sources, including paints, varnishes, flooring materials, smoke, and more, per the American Lung Association. Breathing in VOCs can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat, and cause nausea or difficulty breathing.

Overall, the evidence for using indoor plants to treat or manage specific conditions is limited — but in theory, there are very few risks to adding plants to your home.

Start With These 7 Popular Houseplants

Tending to any kind of plant can be beneficial for your mental health. But if you’re also looking to improve the air quality in your home, Behr, Blocker, and Dr. Mysore advise buying one of these seven plants at your local nursery or online store.

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Disinfect Your Hotel Room Against COVID-19

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Until more people are vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends avoiding travel for now. Nonetheless, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) notes a growing number of Americans have decided it’s time to hit the road, whether to see relatives, attend a wedding or other event, or take that long-overdue vacation. This means many people are booking hotel stays, triggering questions about whether viruses on surfaces pose a risk.

Even people who are fully vaccinated may be feeling anxiety about germs when they travel. Consider the Connecticut couple Mindy and Jeff Siegel, who booked plane tickets to Boca Raton, Florida, for two weeks after their second Pfizer vaccination, when they knew they’d have the full veil of protection against COVID-19.

Still, the first thing Mindy did when they arrived at their hotel room was whip out the disinfecting wipes she’d brought from home, passing them over knobs, faucets, light switches, the telephone, and the remote control. “I wanted to clean things that made sense, but we didn’t go crazy scrubbing everything,” she says.

Was she taking prudent precautions, or going overboard? Here, experts weigh in on how to protect yourself from germs, especially the coronavirus, when you’re staying in a hotel or vacation rental home.

RELATED: Coronavirus Alert: The Latest News, Data, and Expert Insights on the COVID-19 Pandemic

Contaminated Surfaces Are Not the Main Way the Virus Spreads

Early in the pandemic, before health experts understood how the coronavirus spreads, intensely disinfecting surfaces seemed like the best way to prevent infection.

Now the CDC states that while it’s possible for a person to get COVID-19 by touching a contaminated surface, this is not a common way for the coronavirus to be transmitted.

Instead, scientists assert that the virus spreads mainly through person-to-person exposure, which can occur when an infected person coughs, speaks, or otherwise emits respiratory droplets.

“Respiratory transmission is a much more important factor than surfaces for spreading COVID-19,” says Tara Kirk Sell, PhD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore.

This means it isn’t necessary to scrub the hotel toilet, sanitize your suitcase, or rewash glasses or coffee cups in a hotel room unless they look dirty, as some travel articles earlier in the pandemic recommended, she says.

In fact, overcleaning has its own risks. “Breathing in a lot of disinfecting chemicals can be bad for your health,” Dr. Sell cautions.

Mild — but Not Major — Cleaning Is Smart

While there is no need to be a complete germaphobe and wipe down absolutely everything, ensuring that high-touch areas in a hotel room are properly disinfected is a good idea. “There is some value to cleaning the light switches, doorknobs, remote controls, and the like,” Sell says, in order to protect against norovirus and other germs in addition to the coronavirus.

Antibacterial wipes are ideal for traveling, since they’re simple to pack. If you’re staying in a vacation rental property, you may prefer to use a diluted bleach solution for disinfecting. To DIY one, use a ratio of ⅓ cup of bleach (containing 5.25 percent to 8.25 percent sodium hypochlorite) per gallon of water, and follow the safety protocols, says the CDC.

For all cleaning products, allow the solution to remain on the surface for at least a minute before you wipe off any excess.

RELATED: The Ultimate Guide to Cleaning and Disinfecting Surfaces in COVID-19 Times

Open a Window if You Can

Perhaps the best “cleaning” you can do in a hotel room or vacation rental is to open a window to bring in fresh air.

“Virus particles are emitted into the air from talking, singing, coughing, and sneezing, and the tiniest of the droplets can linger for hours,” says Manhar Dhanak, PhD, the chair of ocean and mechanical engineering at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, who has documented how coronavirus travels.

“If you open the window, the breeze will replenish the air inside with fresh air. That is important,” Dr. Dhanak says.

Rooms at some upscale resorts may have a sliding door that opens to a balcony. Leaving that open for several minutes when you first enter is a powerful cleaning strategy.

Of course, windows in many hotel rooms do not open, since they were designed for a time when energy efficiency, not virus protection, was top of mind.

RELATED: To Reduce COVID-19 Risk, Open a Window

Decline Housekeeping Service for Short Stays

Part of the lure of a hotel stay is having someone else make your bed and rehang your towels. But if you’re going to be there for just a few days, you should forgo this service. There’s no reason to have people entering your room, even if they’re wearing a mask, experts advise.

Many hotels are skipping typical daily maid service during the pandemic. Instead, housekeepers leave towels, shampoo, and the like outside your door, coming in to clean only if you request it.

Although the Siegels stayed for two weeks at the hotel in Boca Raton, they had housekeeping service only once, after a week, at a prearranged time. In order to protect employees, their hotel has a policy requiring guests to leave their room for three hours before the cleaning staff enter.

It is equally wise for you to postpone coming back to the room until several hours after housekeeping leaves. Open a window when you do come back, if you can.

Don’t Let ‘Hygiene Theater’ Make You Complacent

In some hotels, you’ll find employees stationed in the lobby, spray bottle in hand. This can be a sign that the hotel takes germ transmission seriously, but it can also be what experts call “hygiene theater,” done primarily to impress the guests.

Sell appreciates hotels that continually clean high-touch surfaces in the lobby, including the check-in desktop and elevator buttons. But here again, it’s unnecessary to over-clean and spread toxic chemicals in the air.

Crucially, during the pandemic, you should view a hotel lobby as a conduit to and from your room, not as a place to linger, drink in hand, mingling with others.

Remember Where the Real Risk Lies

If you’re traveling to a hotel for vacation or to see friends or family, exposure to the coronavirus is more likely to occur outside your room than in it, experts say.

Even if you’re fully vaccinated, the CDC recommends continuing to wear masks in public and avoiding medium and large in-person gatherings for now.

It’s important to consider the cleanliness of the hotel, but actions that bring you into close contact with other people — taking public transportation, going to restaurants or movies, socializing — require even more care. “You’re more likely to catch the illness from these activities than from being in your hotel room,” Sell says.

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Hope for Cork islanders living on ferried supplies for six months as Irish Water change notice

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The residents of a Cork island are now able to consume boiled water after six months of living off ferried bottled supplies and showering in ‘filthy water’, but Irish Water have said that they cannot say when the Boil Water Notice will be lifted.

Since September the 30 people who live on Whiddy Island, which is off Bantry Bay, have been dependent on bottles of water getting shipped over to them, including one 99-year-old woman who lives there.

Today Irish Water announced that they are now shifting the Do Not Consume water notice on the island to a Boil Water notice, which will no doubt be a welcome update.

The tight knit community on the island found themselves in an “awful situation” when their tap water became filthy, and black and brown in colour.

Previously the chairman of the local development association, 28-year-old Connie O’ Leary, told CorkBeo that everyone on the island was “just sick of it” and wanted to know when the issues of their water supply would be fixed.

“we can’t even fill the kettle from the tap or use it to wash potatoes, we are living off bottled supplies that Irish water are sending over on one of the barges coming to our oil terminals,” Connie said.

“It isn’t as dirty as it was, at the start the water was filthy and black, but we had no choice but to shower in it, it is still brown now,” he added,” he added.

Back in September Irish Water said that the issue was being caused by “low water at raw water extraction levels” and the “levels of colour and turbidity in the treated water” meant that it couldn’t be used to prepare food, to brush your teeth, or for anything other than showering, but even then the islanders were warned to make sure children didn’t swallow the bathing water.

Niall O’Riordan of Irish Water said: “A significant amount of improvement works were completed at the treatment plant on the island, which has resulted in improved water quality but unfortunately turbidity still remains higher than acceptable. However, this has put us in a better position and has allowed us to transition into a Boil Water Notice.

“In an effort to further escalate and address the issues, Irish Water has engaged a specialist contractor to carry out additional works.

“It is hard for us to put a time frame on when we may be able to lift the Boil Water Notice, but we are hopeful that this can be achieved in March once the additional works are complete and subject to water quality sampling results.

“Public health remains our number one priority. We would like to thank the people of Whiddy Island for their patience and cooperation throughout and wish to remind everyone that water can be consumed but it must be boiled before use,” he added.

Islanders can read up on the ins and outs of the new water notice here.

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Beset in Mucus, Coronavirus Particles Likely Travel Farther Than Once Thought

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Newswise — A modeling study raises questions about how far respiratory droplets, like those that transmit the virus that causes COVID-19, can travel before becoming harmless. Can the airborne particles that carry the virus remain infectious not just for a few feet but rather more than 200 feet, farther than the length of a hockey rink?

Experiments dating to the 1930s proposed two paths for respiratory droplets like those from a sneeze or cough. Either they are big and heavy, plummeting to the ground without much chance of infecting another person. Or they are so small and light that they dry out almost instantly, remaining airborne but becoming harmless very quickly. The dryness renders “enveloped” viruses like coronaviruses unable to infect.

But a new study from scientists at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory suggests a third option—that small respiratory particles can remain moist and airborne for a longer time and greater distance than scientists have recognized.

“There are reports of people becoming infected with a coronavirus downwind of an infected person or in a room several minutes after an infected person has exited that room,” said Leonard Pease, the corresponding author of the study. The findings were published in the February issue of the journal International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer.

“The idea that enveloped virions may remain well hydrated and thus fully infective at substantial distances is consistent with real-world observations. Perhaps infectious respiratory droplets persist longer than we have realized,” Pease added.

The PNNL team took a long look at the mucus that coats the respiratory droplets that people spew from their lungs. Scientists know that mucus allows many viruses to travel further than they otherwise would, enabling them to journey from one person to another.

Conventional wisdom has been that very small, aerosolized droplets of just a few microns, like those produced in the lungs, dry out in air almost instantly, becoming harmless. But the PNNL team found that mucus changes the equation.

The team found that the mucus shell that surrounds respiratory droplets likely reduces the evaporation rate, increasing the time that viral particles within the droplets are kept moist. Since enveloped viruses like SARS-CoV-2 have a fatty coating that must be kept moist for the virus to be infectious, the slower evaporation allows viral particles to be infectious longer.

The team estimates that droplets encased in mucus could remain moist for up to 30 minutes and travel up to about 200 feet.

“While there have been many factors proposed as variables in how COVID spreads,” said Pease, “mucus remains largely overlooked.”

Authors of the paper include Pease and Nora Wang Esram, Gourihar Kulkarni, Julia Flaherty and Carolyn Burns.

Viral journeys between offices

The focus on mucus helps address another question: how the virus moves in a multiroom office building.  

Hitching a ride within respiratory droplets is the first step for the virus to become airborne and infect those who breathe it in. Chemist Carolyn Burns had the task of creating artificial, respiratory-like droplets to study how the particles moved from room to room.

Ultimately, Burns settled on two substances to carry artificial virus-like particles. One was bovine mucus; the other was sodium alginate, a compound derived from brown seaweed. The compound is commonly used as a thickening agent in foods like ice cream and cheese.

The team used an airbrush to disperse droplets in one room of a multiroom laboratory building. Together, the droplets and airbrush simulated a person’s coughing fit, releasing particles for about one minute in a source room. A team led by Alex Vlachokostas and Burns measured droplet levels in two adjoining rooms with controlled building ventilation.

The team’s experimental findings, published Jan. 19 in Indoor Air, echo the findings of its previous modeling study, published last year in the journal Building and Environment.

The scientists found that both low and high levels of filtering were effective at reducing levels of respiratory droplets in all rooms. Filtration quickly cut down the levels of droplets in the adjoining rooms—within about three hours, to one-third the level or less without filtration.

The team also found that increasing ventilation rapidly reduced particle levels in the source room. But particle levels in the other connected rooms jumped immediately; levels spiked 20 to 45 minutes later with vigorous air changes increasing the spike. Ultimately, after the initial spike, levels of droplets in all the rooms gradually dropped after three hours with filtration and after five hours without it.

The scientists say that increased air exchange for crowded spaces may be beneficial in certain situations, like large conferences or school assemblies, but in normal work and school conditions, it may actually increase transmission rates throughout all rooms of a building.

“If you’re in a downstream room and you’re not the source of the virus, you probably are not better off with more ventilation,” said Pease.

Authors of the Indoor Air paper include Burns, Vlachokostas and Pease as well as Timothy Salsbury, Richard C. Daniel, Daniel P. James, Julia E. Flaherty, Nora Wang Esram, Ronald M. Underhill and Gourihar Kulkarni.

Both projects were funded through the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory, a consortium of all 17 DOE national laboratories focused on response to COVID-19, with funding provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The projects are among several studies at PNNL to learn more about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19.

 

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