Outdoor and well-ventilated settings have been touted as the ideal seating areas in the Covid era. This, experts say, presents less chance for virus transmissions as opposed to enclosed spaces or poorly ventilated settings.

The government has recently stepped up a campaign encouraging people to avoid what is known as ‘3 Cs’, denoting crowded places, close-contact settings, and confined and enclosed spaces.

To highlight this, City of Kigali authorities recently closed three roads in the Biryogo neighbourhood in Nyamirambo suburb and turned whole portions into open-air settings for roadside restaurants in the area. This comes at a time the country is witnessing a spike in coronavirus cases, in what could turn out to be a third wave of the pandemic.

Dr Menelas Nkeshimana (pictured below), a Covid frontliner and healthcare practitioner at CHUK, who is also the Vice-President of Rwanda Medical Association, talked about the effectiveness of outdoor and well-ventilated spaces in the fight against the virus and shed more light on the science around the so-called 3Cs.

Excerpts:

What are the benefits of being outdoors, or working in well-ventilated places in the context of Covid-19?

Ventilated spaces are important in the fight against the virus. This is because there are heavy particles in a person’s droplets known as aerosols, which are emitted out when people are having a conversation, singing, or when you cough or sneeze. These particles hang in the air. They will be released by someone who is not putting on a mask and if this person is infected they will spread the virus to those around them.

The droplets will linger in the air in confined places as opposed to outdoors, where the fresh, natural air will move the particles away. That’s why the virus tends to spread faster indoors as opposed to open-air spaces.

So the mask cannot protect you indoors?

When you are in a crowded place and you release droplets they will move to the people you are with, but if you are alone the droplets will stay in the air but won’t reach two metres, so they fall down because they are heavy.

Dr Menelas Nkeshimana.

When someone coughs, sneezes or talks and they emit huge volumes of these particles there is a high chance these droplets will find their way into the people around, especially those without a mask or who are not wearing them properly. Even when the other person is putting on their masks well, the droplets will land on their masks, their eyes and other places and they are likely to touch their masks, or eyes, clothes, etc and they could end up contracting the virus.

In addition, research is increasingly showing that there are viruses that can remain suspended in particles that are not heavy, those are the particles that can suspend in the air for 4-8 hours, which means that anyone who enters that room during that period is likely to catch the virus from those light particles.

So you are saying we should mask up but also avoid crowded or unventilated places…

Yes, the masks do help a lot but we have to go beyond that and look at what more can be done to protect ourselves even more. In addition to wearing the mask and observing the other safety measures, we need to avoid overcrowded areas as well as poorly ventilated places. If it’s meetings we can always hold them outdoors or open windows and doors if you must be indoors.

So, if we are wearing our masks properly and maintaining a distance, the particles will stay filtered in the masks and this will prevent the virus from spreading.

Can air conditioners help indoors?

ACs and fans are to be avoided in this situation. Both circulate air in the room so if they are on they are only potentially circulating infected air and getting everyone in the room infected, unless the AC has filters of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) that filter the air that contains any bacteria or viruses, otherwise thy are not advisable in the fight against Covid.

Is the science around outdoor settings or enclosed spaces backed by real-life experiences?

Absolutely. There are many cases that have been recorded on the scientific research portals. Many infected individuals pick up the virus from confined places. People meet in restaurants and one infects the other or one person infects many people. Others go to congested areas and contract the virus.

Finally, what advice would you give to the public?

We are encouraging people to embrace a new habit of conducting all their activities outdoors, or to always remember to open windows and doors to allow in fresh air, and to avoid overcrowded places. The natural air outside helps to eliminate particles that contain the virus and this, in turn, helps reduce the risks of spreading or contracting the virus.