6 feet likely not far enough to stop COVID-19 transmission: experts
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In a perspective article published in the journal Science, three experts wrote that aerosol particles can accumulate and remain infectious in indoor air for hours, while being easily inhaled deep into the lungs.
"Increasing evidence for SARS-CoV-2 suggests the 6 ft WHO recommendation is likely not enough under many indoor conditions where aerosols can remain airborne for hours, accumulate over time, and follow air flows over distances further than 6 ft," they said.
Chia Wang of National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, as well as Kimberly Prather and Dr. Robert Schooley of the University of California, San Diego, said that a large proportion of the COVID-19 spread appears to be occurring through the airborne transmission of aerosols. They added the transmission was produced by asymptomatic individuals during breathing and speaking.
On Tuesday, the experts said that for society to resume as normal, measures must be implemented to reduce aerosol transmission, which includes
the universal wearing of masks -- in addition to widespread testing. They believe both practices could help identify and isolate those infected asymptomatic individuals.
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The six feet of social distancing guidelines by the WHO is based on
studies of respiratory droplets in the 1930s. However, technology didn't exist at the time for detecting tiny aerosol particles, the experts
stated.
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This month, a
study by scientists in Hong Kong found that using surgical masks could reduce the rate of non-contact transmission through respiratory droplets or airborne particles by up to 75 percent.
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