The World Health Organisation says COVID-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions.
WHO had long dismissed the possibility that the virus is airborne except for certain risky medical procedures, such as when patients are first put on breathing machines.
But the world health body has now noted that studies evaluating COVID-19 outbreaks in restaurants, choir practices and gym fitness classes suggested the virus might have been spread in the air.
WHO had on Tuesday said it would study fresh evidence on airborne transmission of the COVID-19, after 239 international scientists, concluded it could spread far beyond two metres on Monday.
It also promised to put out a new scientific brief within days, to round up knowledge about how the virus can be transmitted and ensure its guidance stays in line with the evidence.
The group of scientists backed up their claims by noting that when an infected person exhales, they expel droplets. They also explained that the droplets under five micrometres in size can become suspended in the air for several hours and travel up to tens of metres, they said.
Based on reports, the two-metre (yard) physical distancing guideline has been a major factor in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged last December in China.
Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO’s technical lead on infection control, told a virtual press conference: “We acknowledge that there is emerging evidence in this field.
“And therefore we believe that we have to be open to this evidence and understand its implications regarding the modes of transmission and also regarding the precautions that need to be taken,” she said.
Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, said the UN health agency was producing a scientific brief consolidating the growing knowledge around transmission.
“It is important that what we know fits into the guidance that we have,” she said.
“We will be issuing our brief in the coming days, and that will outline everything that we have in this area.”
It might be recalled that in March, the WHO told PUNCH HealthWise that, contrary to the myth about the rampaging coronavirus disease, the contagion is not air-borne.
The WHO stated this in a response to a tweet sent by our Correspondent.
A claim on the social media had alleged: ‘COVID-19 is confirmed as airborne and remains eight hours in air! So, everyone is required to wear masks, everyone.”
When our Correspondent tweeted at the World Health Organisation Nigeria via its verified Twitter handle @WHONigeria to confirm the veracity of the claim, it responded that COVID-19 is not airborne.
It further stated, “Based on the information received so far and on our experience with other coronaviruses, COVID-19 appears to spread mostly through respiratory droplets (for instance, produced when a sick person coughs) and sick contact.
“Droplets are too large to be airborne for long periods of hours, and quickly settle out of air on surface.
“This is why WHO recommends that everyone maintain hand and respiratory hygiene.”
