Higher risk of airborne transmission indoors
The UAE has been emphatically stressing the need towear masks and maintain social distancing in order to limit the Covid- 19 outbreak.
Today, the importance of these precautionswas highlighted once again when the United States Centres of Disease Control ( CDC) confirmed that the novel coronavirus responsible for Covid- 19 can be transmitted airborne, and can infect people who aremore thanmetres apart.
This kind of airborne transmission mostly happens indoors, in areas with poor ventilation, the American public health institute said on updates about Covid- 19 on itswebsite. However, inmost cases, “Covid- 19 is thought to spread mainly through close contact fromperson to person, including between people who are physically near each other, i. e., within two metres”, the CDC added.
The UAE has recently been reporting about 1,000 newcases of Covid- 19 a day. Lastweek, Saif Al Daheri, a spokesperson for the National Authority for Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management ( NCEMA), said that authorities have intensified control and inspection campaigns, issuing violations against individuals and institutions that do not comply with preventive measures.
Al Daheri also mentioned that a failure towear masks continues to be the most commonly neglected safetymeasure. In light of the CDC’s reports on airborne transmission, this kind of negligence can be especially risky.
On itswebsite, the CDC updated the various known means of Covid- 19 transmission.
Person- to- person
According to the CDC,
Covid- 19 spreads very easily from person to person. However, howeasily a virus spreads from person to person can vary. Sars- CoV- 2, which causes Covid- 19, appears to spread more efficiently than influenza viruses.
Close contact
Covid- 19 transmission ismost common when people are in close contact. People who are physically near— within twometres— of a person with Covid- 19, or have direct contact with that person, are at greatest risk of infection.
When peoplewith Covid- 19 cough, sneeze, sing, talk, or breathe they produce respiratory droplets, the CDC explained.
Infections occur mainly through exposure to respiratory droplets when a person is in close contact with someone who has Covid- 19. Respiratory droplets cause infection when they are inhaled or deposited on mucous membranes, such as those that line the inside of the nose and mouth.
Airborne transmission
Covid- 19 can sometimes be spread by airborne transmission. Some infections can be spread by exposure to virus in small droplets and particles that can linger in the air for minutes to hours. These virusesmay be able to infect people who are further than twometes away from the person who is infected, or after that person has left the space.
This kind of spread, airborne transmission, is an important way that infections like tuberculosis, measles, and chickenpox are spread. There is evidence that under certain conditions, people with Covid- 19 seemto have infected others who weremore than twometres away. These transmissions occurred within enclosed spaces that had inadequate ventilation. Sometimes the infected person was breathing heavily, for example while singing or exercising.
Through contaminated surfaces
Covid- 19 can also spread through contact with contaminated surfaces, but this occurs less commonly. This happens when respiratory droplets land on surfaces and objects. A person who touches the contaminated surface or object can then get Covid- 19 if they then touch their own mouth, nose or eyes.
Between people and animals
The infectious disease can be transmitted between people and animals, but this kind of spread is rare, and only occurs in some situations.
According to the CDC, it is aware of a small number of petsworldwide, including cats and dogs, reported to be infected with Sars- CoV- 2, mostly after close contact with people with Covid- 19. However, the authority added that the risk of Covid- 19 spreading from animals to people is considered to be low.