“Strong evidence” that COVID spreads mainly through air: Lancet

COLORADO:  A study published in the medical journal Lancet has found “strong evidences” that SARS-COV2 virus which cause COVID-19 spreads predominantly through air. According to the experts from the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA) and Canada, found that public health measures which are not able to treat the virus as predominantly air borne leave the people unprotected and vulnerable.

Jose-Luis Jimenez, Chemist, Cooperative institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), said that there are consistent evidence supporting the airborne transmission of virus and evidences supporting large droplet transmission is almost non-existent. The experts reviewed the public research and found as many as 10 evidences in support of airborne transmission.

The researchers highlighted that spread of SARS-COV2 from the people who are not coughing or sneezing accounts for almost 40 per cent of all the transmissions. In contrast to this, the team found almost little to no evidence about the spread of novel coronavirus through large droplets which falls quickly through air and contaminates the surface. The new findings have serious implications on the public health measures designed to curb the spread of COVID-19. Measures such as handwashing and surface cleaning while not completely unimportant but should be given lesser emphasis than the airborne measures.

Professor Kimberley Prather, Co-Author, Aerosol Scientist, University of California, said that it is quite surprising that people are still questioning that the virus spreads predominantly through air. He added that only by including the inhalation of aerosols at close and long range can we explain the many indoor outbreaks around the world.