An Engineering Alternative to Lockdown During COVID-19 and Other Airborne Infectious Disease Pandemics: Feasibility...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Airborne diseases like COVID-19 pose significant global threats, necessitating alternatives to lockdowns.
• Lockdowns severely restrict individual freedoms and cause substantial economic damage.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of a society not requiring lockdowns during pandemics.
• To explore mass production and distribution of high-performance, low-cost, comfortable powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) as a lockdown alternative.

Main Methods:

• Examined PAPRs' capabilities as a lockdown alternative.
• Proposed operational models for a PAPR-integrated social system.
• Identified areas for PAPR improvement.
• Investigated balancing infection control and personal freedom using IoT.

Main Results:

• PAPRs demonstrated potential to reduce airborne/droplet transmission and infection probability.
• A social system replacing lockdown constraints with PAPR usage was proposed, with operational examples.
• Seven key areas for PAPR improvement were identified, including flow optimization and design enhancements.
• An IoT-based PAPR wearing rate management system was deemed effective for balancing infection control and freedom.

Conclusions:

• Utilizing PAPRs presents a feasible alternative to nationwide lockdowns during airborne disease pandemics, minimizing economic and social disruption.
• An IoT system managing PAPR usage rates can effectively balance governmental infection control efficiency with individual citizen freedoms.