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What bothers me about the UVC conclusions I have read is that they are not specific. I would expect to read— the type of UVC (ie wand vs stationary tube), time of exposure, materials tested etc.

It seems there has not yet been enough testing.

I wouldn't recommend messing about with so-called UVC wands to sterilise a piano keyboard. Check out the YouTube videos of 'bigclivedotcom', e.g. https://youtu.be/yqiVhtsMGWo A lot on sale at the moment are fakes.

Genuine UVC radiation is quite likely to damage the plastic of piano key coverings, and possibly the finish elsewhere on the piano. Much more likely than using a mild detergent solution, dried off with a paper towel or a tissue. (Soap or detergent will destroy viruses). Antibacterial hand wipes (if you can find any), immediately dried off, surely shouldn't damage key coverings either?

Here is a study about the efficacy of facemasks in preventing viruses from being exhaled by the user - very effective:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2

But also, without a facemask at all, only about 30% of tests showed viruses being exhaled by the test subjects, know to be infectious, during a 30 minute period. So, sure they are effective, but how necessary are they for casual interactions?

It's pretty clear that there is enough information and disinformation out there to make it impossible to make any one "correct" decision on this matter. The fact is that, short of an effective vaccine, there is only one way to deal with this...get the virus, recover, and move on.

The use of a mask is more psychological than anything else. You THINK you are protecting yourself and the other person, and they THINK they are protected, therefore if they do get the virus (somewhere) at least they "cannot" point the finger at you (because you were wearing a mask). If you weren't wearing one and they got it (somewhere) they would blame you BECAUSE you were not wearing a mask.

My .02

Pwg

That depends on how worried you are by a 30% chance of infection doesn't it?

That was a joke, I know the above is a gross abuse of your data. Yet it seems a fairly fine shading as to whether the lock downs and restrictions are sufficient to control the virus spread or not, so even small changes in the rates of reinfection are significant.

Now, lets talk about face shields and how effective they are, that should cause a bit more controversy :-)

30% is a lot.

Yep 30% is a huge amount. If that was indeed the difference in infection rate all the world would be wearing masks.

But I purposely misquoted the article which talked about a 30% rate of virus detection in the air after (from memory) 30 minutes. That is actually a very different thing to a 30% infection rate - I did say it was an abuse of the data and a joke but I should be old enough to know better and so will correct it here.

your premises are wrong. Everything in the customer's place is probably covered by the virus if he is infected. Therefore there will be viruses in the air not attached to droplets, even without the customer even being in the room. Thus wearing a cheap or incorrectly fitted mask RAISE the risks because they give you a false idea of being safe. If you / your customer is sneezing or coughing, you should not go there in the first place. If you don't know then use a good mask in the correct way.

Yes a properly fitted less-grade mask offers a tiny bit of protection. It still stops a fraction of the viruses and thus reduces the risks a bit. Yes it's better than nothing. But I would not gamble that way.

Masks, except N95, do not protect the wearer. They protect those with whom you come in contact FROM YOU. .

This is misleading, wrong information. If you have a mask that is qualified to stops viruses, you are protected. Nothing "psychological" about that. Of course only till you take the mask off.

A mask works for *you*. Others are not protected by you wearing a mask. It can help decrease the risks a bit for the others but nothing more.

According to the CDC (if you believe them) there are 480,000 deaths annually in the U.S. directly attributable to smoking (this is voluntary), and another 41,000 deaths attributable to second hand smoke (this is involuntary). Interesting comparison to the current situation.

Pwg

Yes with a serious flu wave there are 650.000 flue deaths in a year, tens of millions needing medical help and almost a million needing hospital treatments. . In that light, corona with total of 262,639 is not even close to a serious flu wave.

How much deaths would there be if they treated it similarly to a normal heavy flu wave? Maybe 1.2 million worldwide?

And yes I read elsewhere that we are smoking 6-7 cigarettes as non-smokers just from air pullution everyday. I think that 41.000 deaths anually due to second hand smoke therefore is an underestimation, or maybe that does not include air pollution.

Some people might be much more interested in protecting themselves than other people though. So true though this is, they probably still aren't interested in wearing masks.

Some perspective. In the 2018-19 flu season, deaths in the US from flu were 34K. Covid killed 50K+ in the US just in April.

And on 06 May, the total US deaths is up to 75,000. Don’t be surprised at another 50,000 by the end of the month.

I'll now go back to my silent mode-- and watch my post be edited, or removed (shhhh, we must not speak Truth).

*Moderator note*
Yep, you called it.

As a piano owner who desperately needs to tune a used piano I just bought I personally would be satisfied with open windows, the tech wearing gloves, and a mask (even just a home made one) and my family also wearing masks and staying out of the room while piano is being worked on. But this is only if our tech would be comfortable coming to our home, which he is not...

I hope all of us would be appalled at a technician that walks through a muddy yard and then tracks that mud all the way through the house to the piano.

I hope all of us would be appalled at a technician that decided to smoke a cigar while tuning in a house where the clients don't smoke.

I hope all of us would be appalled at a technician that brought a tool case infested with roaches in with them and set it down while they tuned.

I hope all of us would be appalled at a technician that spit on the keys during tuning.

I hope all of us would think twice before tuning while sick with a fever. (I take my temp every morning - do you?)


It shouldn't matter if a technician's personal or political beliefs leads them to take covid-19 very seriously, or not seriously at all. We are invited into the client's home to work. Their sanctuary... Perhaps since I worked in an urban high school repairing (and cleaning) band instruments in addition to piano work I've had a different perspective on personal cleanliness and the possible spread of germs from one person to the next - possibly THROUGH me.

I've carried hand sanitizer in my car for at least a decade to use between appointments. Since this bug has shown the ability to be transferred before any sign of symptoms, it makes sense to take precautions. Since this bug has been shown to transfer while people are taking precautions but singing (and by extension talking) in a room together, wearing a mask can minimize that risk. Just as I don't track mud into a house, or any of those other things above, I want to respect my client's home and health.

Washing hands. Keeping distance. Using a mask. Not touching faces unless your hands are sanitized.

These are really little things to do in our line of work. It shows an amazing lack of empathy for others to refuse to do even these little things for our clients and our families.

Ron Koval

Here's a site I find at least worthwhile. I can't trust the reported cases or deaths "attributed" to Covid-19, but a total death count and how much higher it is than expected might be useful:

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/excess_deaths.htm

There is a graph that can be called up for each state. The one for NJ seems the worst. The one for PA is unsettling to me. It shows a large drop in the death rate 9 weeks before the first action was taken - closing schools. At present, the death rate is approaching double what is normal. Soooo, the death rate drops before the social distancing and stay at home orders, then dramatically increases after anyway? Me, I gotta wonder if it is really helping. Unsettling...