'Every time you put on a mask and take the mask off and adjust the fit, you are putting additional fatigue on the materials.'
In India, air pollution is most severe in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (northern India), where topography and meteorology concentrate pollution from energy, mobility, industry, agriculture, and other activities, the researchers said.
Antibodies produced by two doses of mRNA vaccines against the original and early variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus wane substantially over time, and offer essentially no protection against Omicron, according to a study that highlights the importance of a booster dose.
The Chinese capital Beijing was shrouded in thick brown dust on Monday morning as a result of heavy winds blowing in from Inner Mongolia and other parts of northwestern China.
Long-term exposure to chronically high PM2.5 levels weakens the ability of the lungs to fend off infections, therefore making people more susceptible to COVID-19, the scientists said.
The N95 masks reduced a cough's initial velocity by up to a factor of 10, and limit its spread to between 0.1 and 0.25 meters, the researchers said.
The researchers noted that transmission rates of SARS-CoV-2 are much higher indoors than outdoors, and transmission is greatly reduced by indoor ventilation.
'Covid patients have infected lungs and the pollutants will further damage it.'
The researchers noted that people who are fully vaccinated can still become infected with SARS-CoV-2 and can carry a viral load similar to those who are unvaccinated.
'COVID-19 comes in, we have our immune response, the immune response overtakes COVID-19 in no time, usually within a day.' 'Fortunately, the majority who get infected will also be in that first category , where there is no damage and the virus is completely overcome.'
According to the scientists, shorter adults and children could be at higher risk if they are located within the trajectory of the saliva droplets.
The central government's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said a significant increase in the number of "fire points" was observed over Punjab (around 3,000), Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, which is likely to impact the air quality of Delhi-NCR and other parts of northwest India.
The first color images of Pluto's atmospheric hazes, returned by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft last week, reveal that the a fine blue tinge.
WHO estimates 1.34 million people died in 2008 from breathing in the tiny particles present in polluted outdoor air.
India is gearing up for the Festival of Lights in the times of the pandemic.
Experts said unfavourable meteorological conditions -- calm winds and low temperatures -- and smoke from farm fires in neighbouring states led to a dense layer of haze as the air quality index entered the "severe" zone.
The results are based on epidemiological data collected up to third week in June 2020 and the researchers say a comprehensive evaluation will need to follow after the pandemic has subsided.
'When Covid first struck, the lockdown resulted in clean air in major Indian cities.' 'You were able to see the Himalayan range from Ludhiana.' 'In Delhi, you were seeing deer and stags all over the city because there was no traffic.' 'It was incredible. Nature was waiting to come back.'
The team led by researchers at the University of Maryland in the United States found that people infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhale infectious virus in their breath, and those infected with the Alpha variant put 43 to 100 times more virus into the air than people infected with the original strains of the virus.
The Large Hadron Collider has restarted, with protons circling the machine's 27km tunnel for the first time since 2013
The WHOS has long held that the coronavirus is spread primarily by large respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
The 24-metre-high air purifier recorded a PM2.5 concentration of 642 micrograms per cubic metre at the inlet and 453 micrograms per cubic metre at the outlet.
'People need not panic over new research findings that coronavirus is airborne as studies cited by a group of over 200 scientists only convey it can be 'at least temporarily' in air'
"I hate to call it the God particle," says Bihar-born Professor Vivek Sharma, one of the first people to know about the existence of the Higgs Boson, which scientists say is key to understanding the universe in an interview to George Joseph
"I hate to call it the God particle," says Bihar-born Professor Vivek Sharma, one of the first people to know about the existence of the Higgs Boson, which scientists say is key to understanding the universe in an interview to George Joseph
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the 'country's first smog tower' at Connaught Place in New Delhi on Monday and said it will prove to be a milestone and many such structures can be installed in the city if the pilot project yields results.
Using lightweight products and following a monsoon skin care routine can keep problems at bay.
The dip in the air quality can be attributed to low wind speed and temperatures which allowed accumulation of pollutants.
Government institutions and pharma industry are examining if a 'cocktail' approach to making a multi-variant Covid-19 vaccine works against multiple strains of the ever-mutating virus, reports Sohini Das.
Adar Poonawalla said he was hopeful that Covovax, the Novavax vaccine made by SII, will be launched around October this year for adults and for children by the first quarter of next year, depending on DCGI approvals.
The reversal of Trump's policy with regard to Iran, like the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, may not be a matter of just turning the clock back, but one of patient negotiations, with uncertain consequences in the post-COVID-19 world, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Rediff.com Senior Contributor P Rajendran reports from New York on how the Indian-American researcher's pioneering work may wipe out the visible effect of Alzheimer's disease.
'The last three decades were the era of D, where D stands for deforestation, destruction, degradation, disaster, damages, diseases, difficulties... and finally it leads to death.'
A pinch of turmeric in a glass of milk or with honey in hot water would be ideal for the monsoon.
The national capital on Friday recorded a 24-hour average air quality index of 239. On Thursday, it was 315, the worst since February 12 when the AQI was 320.
'Since many people are vaccinated, this virus is now concentrating on the throat and the nose and replicating fast and transmitting also very fast.' 'That's because the current vaccines will not be able to fight it when it is in the throat, nose or the mouth.'
People living in the national capital and in states such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are more likely to contract COVID-19 due to prolonged exposure to high concentration of PM 2.5, according to a new pan-India study.
Samridh Seth suggests nine must-read books that can help turn your life around.
The researchers discovered that just a 4.6 ppb reduction in long-term exposure to NO2 would have prevented 14,672 deaths among those who tested positive for the virus.
Delhi recorded an air quality index of 315 at 11:10 am. The last time the air quality hit such a poor level was in February.
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