Covid aerosols: Avoiding coronavirus infection in indoor spaces: don’t breathe other people’s air
Good article on the topic of COVID-19 airborne transmission, with some decent graphics and charts
(tags: coronavirus disease transmission covid-19 aerosols airborne)
Why indoor spaces are still prime COVID hotspots
This is going to be one of the big scandals of COVID-19, when we get around to looking back from a position of safety in the future:
On 28 March 2020, two months after the WHO had declared COVID-19 a global health emergency, the agency broadcast a public-health message on Twitter and Facebook. “FACT: #COVID19 is NOT airborne,” it said, labelling claims to the contrary as misinformation. But evidence quickly established that the virus is transmitted by air, and researchers roundly criticized the agency. The WHO updated its advice on SARS-CoV-2 transmission three months later, acknowledging the possibility that airborne transmission might occur in some community settings. Airborne transmission in “crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces over a prolonged period of time with infected persons cannot be ruled out”, the updated advice says. Yuguo Li, a building environment engineer at the University of Hong Kong, says that he is disappointed it took the WHO and other health authorities so long. “We would have saved a lot of people” if airborne transmission was recognized earlier, he says.
(tags: aerosols transmission airborne who covid-19 misinformation air-quality air)