Hair Salons and other Corona Niches

So, what explains the high number of infections in hair salons? If you'd been following my posts, you'd know that it's a combination of two things. One, the salon is kept cold because they are using hair dryers and it cries out for air conditioning. Two, the coronavirus sticks to hair judging by the relative electrostatic properties: hair tends to be more positive while the virus is neutral or negative. Opposites attract and when that hair dryer goes off, the virus goes for a ride to its next victim. I guess you could add the talkative nature of the hairstylists but I'm only guessing at this.

Perhaps a summary is in order. When the air is cold, the virus floats better because its density is less than that of cold air--the colder the air, the better it floats.

We've encountered another niche that the virus loves: meat packers. These poor workers are really at the mercy of the coronavirus. Meat must be kept cold to keep it from spoiling and this allows coronavirus to spread easily--it's like you or me floating in the Dead Sea.

When sports venues open up, you will see a similar phenomenon; only there, if you are in the "nosebleed" section, you may have an advantage over your fellow spectators who are further down and close to the action. Why? because air density tends to be higher the closer you are to the ground and, above a certain air density, the virus will float. When you are at a basketball game, be thankful you are not with the celebrities OR the players.

Wherever you go in this world, stay away from sharing cold air with strangers who may be infected.

I don't expect much spread down at the shore because it's warm and the humidity LOWERS air density but one unknown is whether the beach goer who sunbathes is more susceptible on account of being so close to the ground where the virus may accumulate; still, they could be protected by the UV rays of the Sun.  For individuals who find themselves low to the ground, humidity is a double-edged sword protecting pedestrians but possibly making it worse for others.

At the shore, do watch out for the stores that maintain too cold a temperatures--at any other time, their air conditioning would be welcome but not now. They need to resort to moving air around with HEPA fans.. If you put a HEPA filter on an AC unit, that's good but if the output of the AC is aimed at where the virus is floating, you may make things worse. Oh, and don't be down wind from anyone. 

Be safe, be well, be vigilant; let's hope we didn't manufacture the coronaviruses. It could have been hit or miss evolutionary processes that produced the right spikes that enabled the virus to float in dense cold air but with so many virology labs across the world--what the FUCK are they doing with viral genomes? We need transparency in government or we might remain guinea pigs. 

An excellent column* in Harper's Magazine spoke volumes in their backpage "Findings" column. Most of it dealt with the transmission and identification of today's viruses, and boy, did they scare the bejeezus out of anyone with virus phobia. Find a copy, it's worth the read. The column also mentioned the many ways we are trying to establish an armamentarium against covid. You wouldn't believe the studies going on now; everything from monoclonal antibodies to menstrual-blood stem cells and bear bile. I must admit to having egg on my face because I once accused the medical profession of not thinking outside the box. Generally, still true; but they do have their mavericks out there much to our benefit.

*I only saw one contradiction and that was that they reported that ACE inhibitors were being investigated therapeuticallly. Early on, I had heard that ACE inhibitors were a problem in covid because they increased ACE-2 receptors that the virus latches onto. Probably it was lumped amongst the other agents so as not to have to create another category: agents investigated as contraindications in covid treatments.