LANCET SAYS COVID-19 SPREADS THROUGH AIR

Authors call for urgent modification of safety protocols

1

‘Superspreading events account for substantial SARS-COV-2 transmission; indeed, such events may be the pandemic’s primary drivers.’ According to the authors of the Lancet study, detailed analysis of human behaviours and interactions, room sizes, other variables are consistent with the airborne spread of SARS-COV-2. The report states that the same cannot be fully explained by droplets or fomites.

2

‘ Long-range transmission of SARS-COV-2 between people in adjacent rooms, but never in each other’s presence, has been documented in quarantine hotels,’ the paper said.

3

Authors argued that 33 percent to 59 percent of all coronavirus cases can be attributed to the asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic transmission without the infected person coughing or sneezing.

4

The authors wrote that the transmission of the pathogen is higher indoors compared to outdoors. Transmission is substantially reduced by indoor ventilation, they say. The report reads that nosocomial infection (those that originate in a hospital) have been detected even in places where healthcare professionals wore PPE to protect themselves against the virus transmission through droplets.

5

The authors state that viable SARS-COV-2 has been detected in the air. During laboratory experiments, the pathogen stayed infectious in the air for up to three hours.

6

The experts argued that the pathogen has been detected in air filters and building ducts in hospitals with Covid-19 patients in them. “Such locations could be reached only by aerosols,” they said.

7

The experts said there is no study that disproves their hypothesis. The final argument was that there was limited evidence that supports other dominant routes of SARS-COV-2 transmission.