Microphones and face shields

The point many 'amateur virologists' miss is that a virus is NOT a germ. A virus has a fatty lipid shell protecting it. You need SOAP to break down that shell to kill a virus, NOT hand sanitizer. Use the right tool for the job! Surgeons don't scrub for a surgery with hand sanitizer -- they scrub with soap.
Yep, breaking down that outer lipid layer is a key to disabling the virus.
 
The point many 'amateur virologists' miss is that a virus is NOT a germ. A virus has a fatty lipid shell protecting it. You need SOAP to break down that shell to kill a virus, NOT hand sanitizer. Use the right tool for the job! Surgeons don't scrub for a surgery with hand sanitizer -- they scrub with soap.
Hi teqniqal,
In case you did not see this on another thread.

This link lists agents that should kill the virus just by contact.

www.epa.gov

List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) | US EPA
Search EPA’s list of registered disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
www.epa.gov
www.epa.gov

A more direct info is coming out slowly.

www.epa.gov

EPA approves first surface disinfectant products tested on the SARS-CoV-2 virus | US EPA
EPA News Release: EPA approves first surface disinfectant products tested on the SARS-CoV-2 virus
www.epa.gov
www.epa.gov
From an ARP news letter "Lysol cleaning products have proven effective in killing the novel coronavirus on hard surfaces, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced.
Lysol Disinfectant Spray and Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist received approval Monday from the federal agency for their effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. They are the first surface disinfectant products to receive such approval; the EPA said it expects more will follow."

Fortunatly sanitizer does kill the virus. Your information seems to need an update.
 
We should get this right.

I have no citations, though surely I could go get some. Maybe later. I almost majored in biology - does that count?🤔

Not all viruses have a "fatty lipid shell" or envelope, though the one in question does. The envelope has these important characteristics and impacts:

- It makes the virus more infectious, because the envelope is in part made from components of host cell membranes - a disguise.
- In enveloped viruses, the structures that allow the virus to attach to a cell and infect it are component to the envelope. Compromise the envelope and the virus is no longer infectious. Non-enveloped viruses, lacking this weakness, are actually tougher to "deactivate". SARS-CoV2 is delicate by comparison.
- Soap is not the only thing that compromises a virus envelope. Several other substances and environmental factors do it too, including alcohol. But any old soap does a good job, and washing correctly with soap and running water actually removes a lot of viruses down a drain rather than just spreading them around our hands while we rub some arbitrary amount of sanitizer around while maybe missing some spots.

Surgical scrub isn't plain old soap. It's antiseptic - iodine and so forth. Please don't do home surgery with your bar of Dove.

DO WHAT REAL SCIENTISTS SAY.
 
I am not going down the rabbit hole of should you be doing a live production, enough opinions are out there. I would try rigging the mic in the costume aimed at the thoracic cavity. You will lose again but should get clear sound without the face shield issues. You can rig on undergarments that are not subject to costume change. I know it is not a lav mic but I have tried it in certain circumstances with success.
 
Nothing much to add to all the tech wizdom above...just wondering how one finds info on disinfecting/ cleaning mics between users?

There will likely be an Audio Engineering Society convention panel on "coping with Covid" and cleaning hardware is one of the topics. In fact the panel has a Zoom meeting in about 2 hours...

Shure just updated their guidance on cleaning (3 days ago). DPA has guidance. PointSource guidance will be forthcoming if it's not already available. AKG is kind of vague, as is Sennheiser (so far anyway, we're working with them).

The April 8, 2020 webinar at www.practicalshow.tech (use the Archive tab to find) has a presentation by Denise Woodward of IATSE Local 16, and she provided the info she had amassed at that time. I know Denise has edited and updated her findings but I'm not sure the downloadable assets have been updated by PST. The big take-away - DPA cleaning varies with the type of mic. Miniature mics should not have alcohol, solvents of any kind, or most chemicals used on the mic cable as they will strip the plasticizers from the outer jacket and cause the cable to become intermittent and fail. DPA recommends... wait for it.... olive oil. Yummy! Our actors will smell like pasta and salads which may be an improvement! The mic element itself can be cleaned with with isopropyl (they have guidance on this).

For most hard surface items the use of 70% isopropyl alcohol (the 'prep pads' the nurse uses before giving an injection are perfect). The manufacturers won't tell you how long to leave it wet (that's up to you figure out, but we'll have some guidance in the AES panel that can be traced back to health authorities), but what you don't want is to have liquids running into the device. Remember that the important parts are those touched and handled by other persons... Some of the guidance the panel has received is that consoles will not tolerate frequent cleaning and 'wet' cleaning is discouraged.

Finally, so far the biology is indicating that infectious levels of virus do not survive on surfaces for as long as previously thought. If an item is not used for several days and is otherwise clean and free of debris, gunk and soil, the item is likely safe to re-use. That may not sit will with some parents, teachers, students, or administrators so a certain amount of 'sanitation dog and pony show' may be necessary to assuage them.
 
Do you have the link to this, I see something they updated on 7/22 but not on the 26th or 27th.

Shure Cleaning 7/22
That's the updated guidance. The notice hit my in box 3 days ago....

DPA has similar guidance with a short video on cleaning their miniature mics. Countryman has no guidance on their website yet but I suspect it will be forthcoming as another member of the AES panel has received email guidance. Can't share it here as it's part of the "deliverables" package for the AES convention but I expect Countryman will have it posted. We're also soliciting guidance for IEM receivers and body pack transmitters (updated guidance from Shure, working on Sennheiser). Lectrosonics has guidance. Also we're working with console manufacturers, intercom manfacturers (Reidel and Clear-Com have guidance up now) and other high-touch, multi-user items.
 
If you check the CDC they state that it’s not the soap that is important but it’s the running water that washes away the virus. This is the reason many third world countries are having issues as they don’t have ample running water.

“Using soap to wash hands is more effective than using water alone because the surfactants in soap lift soil and microbes from skin, and people tend to scrub hands more thoroughly when using soap, which further removes germs.

To date, studies have shown that there is no added health benefit for consumers (this does not include professionals in the healthcare setting) using soaps containing antibacterial ingredients compared with using plain soap”

So running your microphone elements under the tap should do the trick. 😝
 
Forget cleaning the equipment, let's clean the actors!! Dunking them in whiskey before the performance might help.... ;);):dance::dance:🤣🤣🤣🍸🍸🍷🍷🍺🍺

If you do that, they'll be licking each other...
 
The point many 'amateur virologists' miss is that a virus is NOT a germ. A virus has a fatty lipid shell protecting it. You need SOAP to break down that shell to kill a virus, NOT hand sanitizer. Use the right tool for the job! Surgeons don't scrub for a surgery with hand sanitizer -- they scrub with soap.
Actually.. surgeons scrub with whatever to remove the big chunks.. but after years and years of relying on iodine, it turns out the best final application is 70% alcohol for quick knockdown mixed with some chlorhexidine for sustained action of stuff coming up from the deep layers of skin.. Avigard by 3m is the product. And hand sanitizer is highly effective against a variety of viruses as well as bacteria. Turns out 70% is about the sweet spot. higher percentage doesn’t have enough water to disrupt the structure once the solvent action of the alcohol disrupts the outer “shell” So 90% alcohol is worse than 70%. I’m not an amateur virologist, just a practicing DVM trying to stay on top of this. And yes.. plain soap is both anti viral and somewhat anti bacterial in addition to it’s plain old mechanical cleaning properties.
 
Perhaps we should just buy some inexpensive head rigs and consider them attendance prizes for the actors or pitch them at the end of the run after an alcohol bath. You choose the type of alcohol.
 
FWIW, I just saw a set of photos from a local production that was attempting to use face shields, and you can tell right away that they are a problem. In at least half of the shots, the way people's heads are turned or positioned makes the shield completely useless.

I know people are impatient about getting back to live performance, but this seems so completely irresponsible to try. At my university, we are having no live performances until (at least) 2021. Even if we wanted to try, we are under a "no more than 10 people at a gathering" rule, which means a show with 5 actors and an SM would allow all of 4 audience members to attend
 
I agree that people have somehow forgotten that these guidelines are to keep us all safe. Just because a local city, county or state lifts the strictness, doesn't mean everyone should flood to their local hotspot to engage in maskless activities.
That's my greatest gripe with outdoor restaurants is how much more unsafe they've made the entire street because it's now just a big clump of people yelling, talking, laughing and eating, all without masks for hours on end.
 
There is no such thing as safe right now. Some activities are safer than others, but just because something is allowed, doesn't mean it's a good idea. Everything that is open now is done as a compromise. There is inherent risk in being around people from outside your household, whether it's inside, outside, a big crowd, a small group, young or old. Stay home to stay safe, wear a mask, wash your hands.
 
I think a lot of the virus business is overblown media hype to sell newspapers. A lot of us of a certain age and older lived through a polio epidemic every summer (just stay away from the swimming pool) a flu epidemic every winter (just stay away from people coughing) and who remembers how many others. Everybody had measles, chicken pox, whooping cough, German measles and a few others and the world wasn't stopped because of them. Yes, the covid virus can be serious, but so can a lot of other things. I've heard that to date this year, more people have died from heart attacks and other coronary diseases than have died from the virus. Have we stopped the world because of that? Let's get back to normal before we totally ruin the economy!
 
While it's true, many more people die from things besides covid, many of those causes of death are either genetic or completely out of people's individual control.
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Covid, by contrast, can be very easily tamped down by wearing a mask, washing your hands and avoiding spending time with anyone outside your household.
By denying those truths, going out for haircuts, dinner and socialization, the US has had a massive upswing in infection and death whereas 2-3 months ago, we had relatively low infection rates when everyone was staying home.
 
Somebody raised the point that the covid deaths over the first 4 months were the equivalent of 50 airliners crashing per week.
If that were happening.. there would be groundings, congressional action, and national outrage. I for one am really tired (as a Veterinarian)
of people trying to equate this with the flu or even polio. Flu, measles etc for the most part are not transmitted by asymptomatic people.
Some estimates for Covid are as high as 40% of transmission is coming from asymptomatic/presymptomatic people
The morbidity and mortality, along with the transmission rates under close prolonged contact with
an apparently healthy person are relatively unprecedented. I personally know 5 people who have had this. One is dead, so I am rather
humorless on this topic.
 

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