1)
What is the positive contribution of antivirus gestures in the fight against coronavirus?
-The proposed strategy tries to close a gap in our barriers against the virus, which is the almost exclusive use of the voice in relationships between people. Learning to use these gestures would give us a way to neutralize that advantage from the viruses.
2)
Why not to use gestures typical of the sign language of the deaf community in each country?
-It is not about learning a sign language, but a collection of gestures. These gestures are international, which favors their use by listeners in situations of international communication with listeners from other countries. They would also favor medical care for immigrants, travelers, tourists or people displaced from their countries.
3)
If this is not a sign language, how can effective communication between doctor and patient be ensured?
-The antivirus gestures allow the patient to avoid saying many words with the voice. Doctors will be able to ask questions by speaking, and the patient can clarify concepts by responding with gestures of affirmation or denial. And patients can always speak if they see that some idea is not clear in that interaction.
4)
All protection measures are essential to defend ourselves at this time and prevent the spread of this pandemic. And they are not exclusive, that is, if you wear a mask, do not stop washing your hands, for example.
- In these dates of confinement, when learning these gestures from home you will be equipped with an additional armament for this fight that you can always carry with you, since it does not weigh or take up space. And it doesn't stop you from using any other resources you have.
5)
Sometimes the problem when accessing the resources and means of protection against the virus is their price, or that they are limited, or that they cannot be reused
- The only cost of these virtual masks, which are the antivirus gestures, is the time it can take to learn them, but currently time is not what we lack. People can have as many as they choose to learn, and they are reusable without limit.
6)
Isn't it utopian to think that people will change their habits to the point of communicating with their hands?
- We already accept new habits such as isolating ourselves, washing our hands or applauding from the balconies. This proposal can help lower the infection curve more quickly, and also prevent future respiratory epidemics from growing as fast as this one did.
7)
Will it be worth asking people to make the effort to learn these gestures, since there are much more effective physical and chemical protection measures?
- The effect it may have on reducing the epidemic should not be neglected, even if limited. And this virtual mask, in addition to being additional to any other means of protection, has the advantages of being reusable without limit, being able to always carry it with us, not polluting the environment and being at our disposal in the future.
8)
Health personnel are the main asset in this social fight against the epidemic. They are especially exposed when they treat infected people, even if they have no symptoms.
- Learning anti-virus gestures and using them when we see they are appropriate, can help to limit the exposure of doctors, healthcare professionals and others who care for the public, to viruses that can come out of our mouths when we talk to them.
9)
Health care personnel must feel the support of society, not only for the applause from the balconies, but also for the positive actions of citizens to facilitate their work, and without being discriminated for fear of infecting us in our dealings with them.
- The applause we give them is well deserved, but they would certainly appreciate our willingness to spend some of our time acquiring an additional virtual shield, such as antivirus gestures, which will help to protect them when necessary.
10)
What is the use of learning these antivirus gestures before doctors and nurses also know them?
-Health personnel are currently focused on fighting the epidemic. If we learn the gestures in our homes at this stage of confinement, doctors will be motivated to learn them too to improve their safety. That is why it is very important for each of us to spread this idea and try to convince other people to learn the antivirus signs too.
11)
Any type of activity is very necessary to maintain physical and mental shape during the confinement phase. Some people are already making homemade masks in their homes.
- We can also get a "virtual mask" to reduce the exposure of doctors when we go to the office, of nurses when they visit us at home or of public health personnel in general, when we interact with them.
12)
Proposals for home activities, in addition to reducing depression and feelings of isolation, should help people to notice that they are doing something positive for their lives.
- In the case of international gestures, they can also be used to enjoy poems from other countries in their original languages, to introduce us to a foreign language and many other possibilities that have been explored during the last 20 years between schools in different countries.
13)
We may have to rethink some of our habits in the future. Both in the functioning of society and in individual behavior, as well as in our relationships, we will have to add elements that protect us against future epidemics.
- One of our habits is to use the voice almost exclusively in interpersonal relationships. This causes the listener to be exposed to viruses that can come out of the mouth along with air from the lungs, emitted by the speaker. Learning to use antivirus gestures would reduce this advantage of the virus.
14)
The millions of masks and gloves that will be used in the fight against the coronavirus can cause serious environmental contamination when removing them once they are used.
-Each of the anti-virus gestures you learn will be additional ammunition for this fight against the epidemic. And when you no longer need it, it won't pose the least risk to the environment.
15)
The important thing is to achieve effective and low-cost means of protection. FFP filter masks are recommended for healthcare professionals, but they have a high cost. Surgical masks cost around 1 euro each and can be worn for one day. There are many people who make sanitary masks in their homes, but they are less effective.
-For each EU citizen person to use daily a surgical mask, at a cost of 0.1 euro, an annual investment of 16 billion euros would be required. Using anti-virus gestures to limit the spread of the epidemic by asymptomatic or cough-free people could reduce this budget by a significant amount.
This man is not coughing, but talking like we do every day. If that man made gestures he would not emit any aerosol through his mouth. The virtual mask, in this case, would have the same effect as the real mask in the second part of the video.
Online petition for WHO to consider this possibility