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rkhamsi's profile
Roxanne Khamsi
Roxanne Khamsi
Roxanne Khamsi
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@rkhamsi

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Roxanne KhamsiVerified account

@rkhamsi

science journalist, currently covering the #COVID19 #coronavirus pandemic as an independent reporter for @WIRED, @NatureNews and @NYTimes. http://roxanne.substack.com 

Montreal by way of Brooklyn
roxannekhamsi.com/about
Joined October 2009

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    Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

    THREAD🧵--> For weeks, I've been tracking the scientific debate about whether we need masks to prevent transmission of the virus causing #COVID19 and whether it is #airborne. If you're confused, you are not alone. Stick with me here. Let's clear the air. 1/15pic.twitter.com/K0nZl5Q7aq

    9:13 AM - 30 Mar 2020
    • 1,353 Retweets
    • 2,244 Likes
    • Philippe Khoury Frederique F-J - 🎮 DONTNOD Mtl is hiring 🌈 Shani N95 Komulainen 💉💉💉🇨🇦😷 MariaRooney 💙 Mich_MHA Compa Alejandro #BLM Jon Bernard Nadia S Nemo
    121 replies 1,353 retweets 2,244 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Roxanne Khamsi Retweeted World Health Organization (WHO)

        On Saturday, the World Health Organization used CAPS to say, "FACT: #COVID19 is NOT airborne." Here is the tweet. But keep reading this thread, because the wording is tricky.https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1243972193169616898 …

        Roxanne Khamsi added,

        World Health Organization (WHO)Verified account @WHO
        FACT: #COVID19 is NOT airborne. The #coronavirus is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks. To protect yourself: -keep 1m distance from others -disinfect surfaces frequently -wash/rub your 👐 -avoid touching your 👀👃👄 pic.twitter.com/fpkcpHAJx7
        Show this thread
        9 replies 70 retweets 203 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        As I wrote about 2 weeks ago, essentially, the word 'airborne' means something traveling in the air. But public health officials rely on a cutoff that any tiny bit of mucus larger than 5 microns in diameter that you cough out is called a 'droplet' 3/15https://www.wired.com/story/they-say-coronavirus-isnt-airborne-but-its-definitely-borne-by-air/ …

        3 replies 100 retweets 319 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Why that cutoff? The idea of separating large 'droplets' from smaller 'aerosols' dates back to the 1930s (!!!). William Wells and his team proposed that pathogens could spread by air. Later, they housed guinea pigs above tuberculosis patients in a hospital to prove this. 4/15pic.twitter.com/B3hBH5lLks

        2 replies 64 retweets 221 likes
        Show this thread
      5. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        The guinea pigs got sick with tuberculosis. Yet there was pushback against the airborne theory of transmission. Some aerobiologists say this was a reaction to the widely debunked 'miasma theory' in which poisonous vapors were said to be the culprit in the spread of illness 5/15

        1 reply 37 retweets 186 likes
        Show this thread
      6. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Fast forward to March 14, 1977, when a plane was grounded for 3 hours without ventilation. There was an ill person on board with flu symptoms. Within days 72% of the 54 people aboard got sick. Yet there's still debate about how 'airborne' flu is. 6/15https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/463858 

        5 replies 70 retweets 290 likes
        Show this thread
      7. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        At the time I wrote my story two weeks ago, there were already concerning reports. In a @JAMA_current study of hospital isolation rooms in Singapore, air vent blades in one patient’s room did test positive for #SARSCoV2 (the #COVID19 virus): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762692 … 7/15

        4 replies 81 retweets 256 likes
        Show this thread
      8. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Another study, from Wuhan, found that the levels of #SARSCoV2 in most #COVID19 patients' rooms were undetectable or low, but it did find the presence of the virus in aerosol form. It is still not peer-reviewed, so proceed with caution. 8/15 🛑https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.08.982637v1 …

        4 replies 52 retweets 199 likes
        Show this thread
      9. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        More recently, Nebraska researchers including @Prof_Lowe detected #SARSCoV2 in air samples collected from patients rooms. Finding traces of virus isn't the same as proving they are infectious. Could just be genetic skeletons. But it is worth noting. 9/15https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.23.20039446v2 …

        1 reply 52 retweets 224 likes
        Show this thread
      10. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        OK, so we've just listed some recent studies. But what might have caught your attention is this intriguing graph markup by @jperla. Look at the 'mask countries' vs the 'no mask' countries. 10/15:pic.twitter.com/3WmiHrGzQS

        77 replies 689 retweets 1,167 likes
        Show this thread
      11. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        A lot of folks have also heard about the case of a choir, reported here by @RichReadReports. Sixty people showed up for rehearsal, 45 have been diagnosed with #COVID19 or have symptoms, at least 3 have been hospitalized, and 2 are dead. 11/15https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-29/coronavirus-choir-outbreak …

        9 replies 171 retweets 380 likes
        Show this thread
      12. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        This is all concerning. And as @zeynep presciently wrote a couple weeks ago: "The top-down conversation around masks has become a case study in how not to communicate with the public." 12/15 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/opinion/coronavirus-face-masks.html …

        3 replies 132 retweets 438 likes
        Show this thread
      13. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Fast-forward to this week. @KnvulS's article aptly captures the changing tide: "More Americans Should Probably Wear Masks for Protection" -- the tone is starting to shift. 13/15 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/health/us-coronavirus-face-masks.html …

        3 replies 111 retweets 357 likes
        Show this thread
      14. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Public health experts distinguish between 'face masks' such as surgical masks that are loosely fitting and 'respirators' like N95s. Why are they called N95s? Because they filter out 95% of particles smaller than 0.3 microns if properly fitted. Here's the FDA's explanation 14/15pic.twitter.com/iAjYMwOdd5

        6 replies 63 retweets 254 likes
        Show this thread
      15. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Wanna know what makes mask manufacturing so special? MELT-BLOWN FABRIC. Unfortunately, not something that you find at your local craft store. Here's a story by @EmilyZFeng and @Amy_23_Cheng @ 15/n https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/16/814929294/covid-19-has-caused-a-shortage-of-face-masks-but-theyre-surprisingly-hard-to-mak …pic.twitter.com/R1Ff8AaF38

        5 replies 91 retweets 294 likes
        Show this thread
      16. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        If you'd like to get your blood boiling, then read this story about how on Feb 5, HHS Secretary Azar requested $2 billion to buy supplies like respirator masks for the national stockpile. That request was cut 75% by the Trump administration: 16/nhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/desperate-for-medical-equipment-states-encounter-a-beleaguered-national-stockpile/2020/03/28/1f4f9a0a-6f82-11ea-aa80-c2470c6b2034_story.html …

        13 replies 597 retweets 935 likes
        Show this thread
      17. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        What to do? @jeremyphoward "Yes, there is a shortage of manufactured masks, and these should go to hospital workers. But anyone can make a mask at home by cutting up a cotton T-shirt, tying it back together and then washing it at the end of the day." 17/n https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/03/28/masks-all-coronavirus/ …

        9 replies 154 retweets 385 likes
        Show this thread
      18. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        MIT prof Lydia Bourouiba says: "Wearing of appropriate personal protection equipment is vitally important for health care workers caring for patients who may be infected, EVEN IF THEY ARE FARTHER THAN 6 FEET AWAY from a patient." (CAPS MINE) 18/n https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763852 …pic.twitter.com/7cC5f8LpKa

        5 replies 114 retweets 301 likes
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      19. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Would you rather see an explainer on #airborne transmission on @YouTube? Here is @MIT prof Lydia Bourouiba's @TEDMED talk on how diseases and epidemics move through a breath of air. 19/nhttps://www.tedmed.com/talks/show?id=730067 …

        5 replies 153 retweets 417 likes
        Show this thread
      20. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        And here's Prof. Bourouiba on the @EPIDEMICpodcast (and me) talking about this 'false dichotomy' between droplets and fine aerosols. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bonus-false-dichotomy-airborne-versus-droplet-roxanne/id1499394284?i=1000469003736 … And here's me talking more about this on the recent #Resetpod 20/nhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/airborne-explained/id1479107698?i=1000469843693 …

        1 reply 74 retweets 260 likes
        Show this thread
      21. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Ughhh. I am really bad at making a #Thread. It's taken me 2 hours and I forgot the most important thing: 1. Health officials say #COVID19 not airborne because they say it is only spread by large 'droplets' 2. But large droplets can travel farther under certain conditions 21/n

        7 replies 111 retweets 371 likes
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      22. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        For example, aerobiologists point out that wind can carry large droplets far (think about the sea spray off of waves at the ocean on a windy day). They also say cough/sneeze droplets can sometimes go beyond 6 feet when taking into account the force of the 'cloud' you exhale 22/n

        5 replies 96 retweets 326 likes
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      23. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        Last tweet on this. @linseymarr has been 100% amazing at #scicomm on this subject. Follow her. Also, the GIF in the initial tweet is from Julian Tang in the journal @PLOSONE. QED: We all need masks, but healthcare workers REALLY need proper masks. 23/n

        6 replies 78 retweets 305 likes
        Show this thread
      24. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        But wait... there's more! @ferrisjabr has this incredible new story in @WIRED on why widespread mask wearing is an essential public health measure. He writes, "The collective evidence makes a strong case for universal mask wearing during a pandemic." 24/nhttps://www.wired.com/story/its-time-to-face-facts-america-masks-work/ …

        12 replies 261 retweets 580 likes
        Show this thread
      25. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        CORRECTION: # 14 out of 15 in this thread should have read: "Because they filter out 95% of particles LARGER than 0.3 microns if properly fitted." 25/npic.twitter.com/BXBnYIqliU

        4 replies 24 retweets 163 likes
        Show this thread
      26. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        One more chilling study for this #Thread. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is a cousin of #COVID19. In 2015, a 35-year old man exposed 1,600 people in an ER to MERS, infecting 82 folks: 33 patients, 8 staff + 41 visitors. Here's the press release: 26/nhttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160710094054.htm …

        4 replies 56 retweets 193 likes
        Show this thread
      27. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 30 Mar 2020

        I’m mortified that I neglected to give a shout out to the awesome aerobiologist @Don_Milton in this thread. He rules! When asked about why the WHO resists the idea of airborne #COVID19 he says: “I think they are talking out of their hats.” 27/nhttps://www.npr.org/2020/03/28/823292062/who-reviews-available-evidence-on-coronavirus-transmission-through-air …

        31 replies 147 retweets 394 likes
        Show this thread
      28. Roxanne Khamsi‏Verified account @rkhamsi 1 Apr 2020

        Well, I don't have a SoundCloud but I do have a gaseous cloud of droplets when I cough. And I also send free email alerts for my news articles if you want to sign up for them:https://roxanne.substack.com/p/coming-soon 

        7 replies 5 retweets 52 likes
        Show this thread
      29. End of conversation

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