'There's been increasing evidence that transmission is happening by inhalation.' Why scientists think COVID-19 may be spread through particles in the air:
In June, daily new cases of coronavirus surged to record levels. Here's what happened throughout the month.A group of 239 scientists from over 30 countries have published a letter urging the World Health Organization and other public health agencies to more seriously consider the potential spread of COVID-19 through inhalation of small particles lingering in the air.
Healthcare workers move a patient in the Covid-19 Unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas Thursday, July 2, 2020. They also point out that particles from viruses of the same family, such as Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome , can be exhaled and detected in indoor environments of infected patients, posing a risk to people sharing this environment and breathing in the same air.' genetic material in air samples collected from isolation rooms of COVID-19 patients -- although it's not clear yet if these samples are capable of infecting people.
Experts say that outdated definitions and arbitrary dichotomies are also adding unnecessary hurdles in further clarifying how the virus is actually transmitted."Traditionally the word airborne has been associated with traveling long distances, but really what we are trying to say is that it seems that inhalation of aerosol happens at short and close contact ranges too," said Marr.
According to Dr. Donald Milton, professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and co-author of the letter,"You can have particles as big as 10 or 20 or even 30 microns that can float quite a long distance indoors.""In a poorly ventilated environment 6 feet is not gonna mean very much," said Milton."Indoor air is still and being stirred up by air conditioning system and heat/thermal plumes from people, lamps, and computer screens.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in their criteria on how the virus spread, say the virus is spread"mainly through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks" and that some of these droplets can"possibly be inhaled into the lungs." ABC reached out to the CDC for comment.
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