Large droplets, fine droplets or both? The question of how is transmitted SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic is still unresolved and an open letter to be published this week, 239 researchers, from 32 countries, should revive the debate again.
The New York Times reports on it. So far, the WHO (World Health Organization) ensures that the coronavirus circulates mainly via large respiratory droplets emitted, for example, during a sneeze or a coughing fit. Because heavy, these droplets would quickly fall back to the ground.
Airborne or not?
According to the WHO, Covid-19 would not then correspond to the strict definition of an airborne virus, so that the world organization recommends only to respect the distance of one meter with its interlocutor and to wash their hands after touching potentially contaminated surfaces.
The 239 researchers are of a different opinion and consider that the covid-19 can be transmitted - and infect several people - also by small drops, lighter and capable of crossing a room. Typically a postilion issued by speaking.
Clearly: the virus would be airborne. This does not mean that he walks in the air during the hours. "This picture is false," said Harvard University epidemiologist Bill Hanage, interviewed by the New York Times.
A call to review WHO recommendations
On the other hand, the 239 researchers invite the WHO to review its health recommendations, in particular in confined spaces where the risk of contamination could prove to be higher than imagined. In particular, overcrowded, poorly ventilated enclosed spaces, where several people are brought into close contact. If the conclusions of the 230 researchers were proven, the wearing of the mask would also be necessary inside and that ventilation systems could have a major role in the fight against the transmission of the virus.
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