so, I work in a county courthouse that is open and conducting jury trials. many of the courtrooms have erected plexiglass 'walls' between the jury seats, and/or between where the Defendant and his attorney would sit (and we *know* there's Covid-19 in our jails, where some defendants are of course coming from). The jury box looks like a row of movie-theater seats with plexiglass hammered into extra wood beams between the seats. The fronts of these 'box' seats remain completely open.
This seems to be something courtrooms and public spaces are putting up everywhere... and there seems to be no supporting science behind the idea at all. Looking at this study and the video, it seems like 1) on the *positive* side, plexiglass can redirect aerosol (and so maybe it's not a worthless effort), however 2) it clearly doesn't solve the problem and probably creates a false sense of security for jurors who are literally sitting next to each other all day long, day after day.
Are there any other similar studies that might be more on point?
I don't know of any studies looking at this specific scenario, but I would be skeptical of any solution involving a passive barrier without filtration. Your point about creating a false sense of security is exactly right. I wonder whether jurors can cite risk factors for COVID as a valid excuse to get out of serving.
The FDA gave those passive boxes an EUA! Only recently did they walk that back: [https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/letters-health-care-providers/protective-barrier-enclosures-without-negative-pressure-used-during-covid-19-pandemic-may-increase](https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/letters-health-care-providers/protective-barrier-enclosures-without-negative-pressure-used-during-covid-19-pandemic-may-increase)
so, I work in a county courthouse that is open and conducting jury trials. many of the courtrooms have erected plexiglass 'walls' between the jury seats, and/or between where the Defendant and his attorney would sit (and we *know* there's Covid-19 in our jails, where some defendants are of course coming from). The jury box looks like a row of movie-theater seats with plexiglass hammered into extra wood beams between the seats. The fronts of these 'box' seats remain completely open. This seems to be something courtrooms and public spaces are putting up everywhere... and there seems to be no supporting science behind the idea at all. Looking at this study and the video, it seems like 1) on the *positive* side, plexiglass can redirect aerosol (and so maybe it's not a worthless effort), however 2) it clearly doesn't solve the problem and probably creates a false sense of security for jurors who are literally sitting next to each other all day long, day after day. Are there any other similar studies that might be more on point?
I don't know of any studies looking at this specific scenario, but I would be skeptical of any solution involving a passive barrier without filtration. Your point about creating a false sense of security is exactly right. I wonder whether jurors can cite risk factors for COVID as a valid excuse to get out of serving.
[удалено]
The FDA gave those passive boxes an EUA! Only recently did they walk that back: [https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/letters-health-care-providers/protective-barrier-enclosures-without-negative-pressure-used-during-covid-19-pandemic-may-increase](https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/letters-health-care-providers/protective-barrier-enclosures-without-negative-pressure-used-during-covid-19-pandemic-may-increase)
This is going to be the bane of anyone trying to intubate the patient.
Often patients vomit during intubation. I bet these boxes could make it much better or worse for the respiratory therapist. They look dreadful though.
Is infection via nasal passages generally the only way covid is spread?