Here is another significant update about the COVID-19 spread.
While cough, sneezing, and touch have been considered the most common means of COVID-19 spread, there has been an intense debate around ‘air-borne’ transmission of the virus.
Now, the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) chief Shekhar C Mande says there is a ‘distinct possibility’ of air-borne transmission of COVID-19 virus.
In this regard, the CSIR chief recommends masks even in ‘enclosed’ spaces.
“All these emerging evidence and arguments suggest that indeed air-borne transmission of SARS-Cov-2 is a ‘distinct possibility’,” the CSIR Chief said.
Even the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged this after an open letter from 239 scientists of 32 nations asking the global body to address ‘air-borne transmission’.
“The larger droplets formed by an infected individual during coughing, sneezing, or talking do not travel far. They settle down quickly. However, the smaller droplets can remain suspended in the air for a considerable duration,” says Mande.
The earlier social distancing measures by WHO are based on spread through larger droplets, which only settle on surfaces.
In an open letter, the 239 scientists appealed to the medical community to consider the potential of air-borne spread.
“There is significant potential for inhalation exposure to viruses in microscopic respiratory droplets (microdroplets) at short to medium distances (up to several meters, or room scale), and we are advocating for the use of preventive measures to mitigate this route of air-borne transmission,” the scientists wrote.
