Transmission of SARS-Covid-19 Via Secondhand Smoke From Pot, Cigarettes, Vaping, Hooka, Meth Pipe
That said, neither the City of Burbank (shutting down the parks last spring right when the pandemic started, taking away the only places for the homeless to go to the bathroom & WASH THEIR HANDS [a real boner move])*, Downtown Burbank, or the Ambassadors use their brains, remembering the essential components of disease transmission. Thus while I am the target, they are putting others at risk, and here is why:
Here we go:
"Are smokers more likely to contract COVID-19?
Smoking cigarettes can leave smokers more vulnerable to respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19, which is why there's never been a better time to quit smoking. FDA's Every Try Counts campaign has supportive tips and tools to help smokers get closer to quitting for good." Apr 28, 2020
Smoking doubles your risk of developing respiratory infections.
In one study,1 391 healthy volunteers had 1 of 5 respiratory viruses, including a coronavirus, dropped in a liquid into their noses. The volunteers who smoked were twice as likely as those who did not smoke to develop an infection. Smoking is known to weaken the immune system and the body’s ability to fight infections.2
Smoking doubles your risk of getting sicker from COVID-19.
In a review of 5 studies published to date,3 smoking is most likely associated with getting sicker with COVID-19. In the largest study of 1099 people with COVID-19,4 people who smoke were 2.4 times more likely to get really sick (e.g. admitted to an intensive care unit, needing mechanical ventilation, dying) compared to those who did not smoke. Smoking can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other health problems that may contribute to serious illness.2 Stopping smoking still helps your health if you have COPD or heart disease.5
Vaping can also harm lung health.
Growing evidence suggests that the aerosol from vaping devices can harm lungs at the cellular and organ levels and worsen the body’s ability to fight respiratory infections.6 The recent outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping-associated product lung injury, predominantly affecting young people, is still a major public health concern.7
(https://tobaccofreeca.com/health/covid-19-stop-smoking-and-vaping/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwl_SHBhCQARIsAFIFRVW51AIrBOu7aKSqGzVJuxW7tn6rvHt2KPMaxcPtERLEBeyfzqubRnsaAkWWEALw_wcB)
(ECA) for prevention and mitigation strategies during the current pandemic. This is a relevant issue
when millions of vapers (and smokers) must remain under indoor confinement and/or share public
outdoor spaces with non-users. The fact that the respiratory flow associated with vaping is visible (as
opposed to other respiratory activities) clearly delineates a safety distance of 1–2 m along the exhaled
jet to prevent direct exposure. Vaping is a relatively infrequent and intermittent respiratory activity
for which we infer a mean emission rate of 79.82 droplets per puff (6–200, standard deviation 74.66)
comparable to mouth breathing, it adds into shared indoor spaces (home and restaurant scenarios) a
1% extra risk of indirect COVID-19 contagion with respect to a “control case” of existing unavoidable
risk from continuous breathing. As a comparative reference, this added relative risk increases to
44–176% for speaking 6–24 min per hour and 260% for coughing every 2 min. Mechanical ventilation
decreases absolute emission levels but keeps the same relative risks. As long as direct exposure to
the visible exhaled jet is avoided, wearing of face masks effectively protects bystanders and keeps
risk estimates very low. As a consequence, protection from possible COVID-19 contagion through
vaping emissions does not require extra interventions besides the standard recommendations to the
general population: keeping a social separation distance of 2 m and wearing of face masks.
... from the smoking rules, right from the City of Burbank (rarely enforced; a tool used to get rid of me ... in more ways than one):
"Where can I smoke in Burbank?
Except for within designated smoking areas, this Ordinance generally prohibits smoking at all City facilities and parks; sidewalks, paseos and pedestrian paths in Downtown Burbank; the Chandler Bikeway; outdoor dining areas; outdoor service areas; City transit vehicles and stations; outdoor gathering and event areas"
Includes: all e-cigs, all vaping, all cigarettes, all marijuana cigs, all pipes, all cigars, period! The bus drivers stand there and smoke in front of their own bus and train patrons.
Bus and train patrons, if someone has Covid-19 & smokes, their smoke exhale will contain the virus, which can live in the immediate air vicinity for hours:
The Burbank Police DON'T CARE
The City of Burbank DOESN'T CARE
Downtown Burbank DOESN'T CARE
Downtown Burbank Ambassadors DON'T CARE
... otherwise mask/wearing, social distancing, and smoking mandates would be enforced & they are NOT!
(https://www.ca-ilg.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/resources__Burbank.SecondhandSmokeOrdinance.pdf)
*Let me know when you need Public Health assistance .. much like the assistance that Chief Albanese offers movie and TV writers on SWAT techniques. lol Visiting Burbank is bad for your health. JFC SMH
P.S. quite 7-Eleven allows homeless people to panhandle and other patrons to smoke by the front door and/or in their parked cars also near the front door. Guess what folks? If any of these folks are Covid-19 the you are walking through their virus infected secondhand smoke. #Facts
***
All data and statistics are based on publicly available data at the time of publication. Some information may be out of date. Visit our coronavirus hub and follow our live updates page for the most recent information on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Experts say secondhand smoke from cigarettes as well as e-cigarettes can transmit the novel coronavirus farther than usual.
They add that people aren’t wearing masks while they’re smoking or vaping.
They also note that smokers and vapers have a higher risk for developing COVID-19 than the general population.
Secondhand smoke has always been a killer, but COVID-19 has made exposure to tobacco smoke potentially deadlier.
And exhaled e-cigarette vapor may be even more dangerous.
Experts say both cigarette and e-cigarette smoke can transport the novel coronavirus, which travels from person to person on microscopic droplets of water vapor exhaled from the lungs.
“When a vaping cloud is exhaled, it contains an enormous amount of particles,” Loren Wold, PhD, an expert in airborne particulate matter, director of Biomedical Research in the College of Nursing, and an associate professor in the Colleges of Nursing and Medicine at The Ohio State University, told Healthline.
“What we don’t know is how far the particles can go. We know that the virus can attach to particles and can travel three, four, or five times farther than they would by simply being in the air.”
Even just normal breathing can spread the disease, which is why face masks are recommended to keep virus particles from spreading freely through the air.
In addition, smokers aren’t wearing masks when they’re dragging on a cigarette or vaping. Wold says smokers often exhale more forcefully, meaning that the particles they push out of their lungs can travel even farther.
How the smoke travels
In some competitions called “cloud chasing,” vapers push clouds of visible vapor from their lungs up to 6 feet.
A 2017 studyTrusted Source also found that e-cigarette users saw the ability to generate a large cloud of exhaled vapor as one of the most attractive aspects of vaping.
“The cloud gives you a very good idea of how far you need to stay away from it,” noted Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.
As for cigarette smoke, Horovitz told Healthline that if you can smell it, you’re probably too close.
According to the National Institutes of Health, secondhand smoke can stay in the air for several hours and travel up to 20 feet.
(https://www.healthline.com/health-news/can-secondhand-smoke-transmit-the-novel-coronavirus#How-the-smoke-travels)
***
Are people experiencing homelessness at risk of COVID-19?
Because many people who are homeless are older adults or have underlying medical conditions they may also be at increased risk for severe illness than the general population. Health departments and healthcare facilities should be aware that people who are homeless are a particularly vulnerable group. If possible, identifying non-congregate settings where those at increased risk can stay may help protect them from COVID-19.
(CDC Feb 26, 2021)
***
In the United States, 68-80% of homeless adults are current cigarette smokers (6-10), representing a considerable disparity in relation to the 19% prevalence in the general population (11). Similarly high rates of smoking have been reported for homeless individuals in other industrialized nations (12-16).
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3797258/#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%2068,nations%20(12%2D16).) Aug 14, 2013
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