COVID-19 and car cabin filter/AC filter

[bendover]

As COVID-19 is airborne virus does it mean that we have to replace our car cabin filter/AC filter more frequently? also i was wondering if these filters are able to stop the virus at any extent?

[dayrider]

I am not a doctor, but from what I know, it's not airborne for too long, they say that if one maintains a distance of 6 feet, there is no risk of transmission. Hence, we don't need to change the cabin filter unless people sneeze or cough in the car and are contagious, in that case, you have to disinfect the car as well

[bendover]

what would be an effective way to disinfect a car?

[VCheng]

The virus is too small to be stopped by cabin filters.

[asgharpwr]

[Taimur92]

The SARS-Cov-2 virus is not airborne. It spreads by droplets from an infected person or animal. Please clear this misconception. The virus, just like any other virus in the world does not remain suspended in air. Although, there may be a chance when there are water vapors suspended in air from an infected person for e.g. in a hospital setting a person might get infected by breathing in the vapors. Which is why it is recommended to maintain 6 feet distance.

The virus size is around 0.1 micron. Even good quality HEPA airfilters are ineffective in stopping particles smaller than 0.3 micron so a car cabin air filter even that of a tesla with its biological warfare filtration mode is ineffective.

Case-fatality is around 1% for the disease. Majority recover and get better. But there is no concrete evidence and different people react differently. Treatment is mostly symptomatic and there is no specific drug or vaccine for it as of this moment. There are no solid clinical trials done successfully with any drug as of this moment and all we have is anecdotal evidence and small-scale studies from various segments.

The best way to protect yourself is maintaining social distance, self-hygiene and if alarming symptoms(low grade fever and pait mae dard do not count) develop please bring yourself to the ER.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30244-9/fulltext

[dayrider]

I don't know. My guess is a diluted solution of detol in a spray bottle, lightly spray the entire car and then wipe with a clothe to cover it all. Detol liquid is a pretty strong disinfectant

[bendover]

fatility rate is not 1% all around the world it varies as currently in italy it is 11% and recovery is around 15% ..also iran and spain have mortality rate more than 1%

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200401-coronavirus-why-death-and-mortality-rates-differ

[bendover]

also masks are not easily available ,how can we improvise this situation..?

[Taimur92]

Yep agree. I averaged out the CFR of both high and low areas. It's a rapidly changing situation with some areas having high mortality and cfr and some low.

[Taimur92]

Sir you need a regular mask to prevent your respiratory droplets falling on to others. An n95 respirator is recommended in situations where you are surrounded by patients suspected of covid19. But even an n95 wont protect 100%.

You can't make an n95 at home but you can make one of those cloth masks at home. Plenty of tutorials on YouTube. However, keep in mind they are only good to stop your respiratory secretions from falling onto others and not the other way round.

Best solution is social distancing and hand washing before touching your face whenever you came back home. A pocket hand sanitizer would also be great in public places.

For disinfecting regular household items and car you can use: dettol, atleast 70% strength isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide solution, bleach, DAC, Clorox, clorhexidine. They will all do the job.