www.the-scientist.com

Scientists, 239 to be specific, from 32 countries send an open letter to the World Health Organization with an alarming message.

"We are concerned that the lack of recognition of the risk of airborne transmission of Covid-19 and the lack of clear recommendations on the control measures against the airborne virus will have significant consequences," they wrote.

The WHO's stance is that the corona virus, Covid19, spreads only via respiratory droplets which are relatively large more than 5 microns in size. This can happen when a person coughs or sneezes but the large droplets is heavy and fall to the ground quickly.

But talking, coughing, singing, or exhaling can also release smaller particles (less than 5 microns) called aerosols or microdroplets. For airborne transmission to occur, these particles have to stay in the air and remain infectious over time. The measles virus, for instance, can live for up to two hours in the air where an infected person coughed or sneezed.

The WHO denied that there is evidence that the corona virus spreads this way. This is in contrast to new research that suggests otherwise. There are several studies that have shown that

microdroplets carrying the coronavirus can linger in the air for several minutes, allowing them to travel more than 6 feet (2 metres) away from an infected person.

This is especially true about crowded and indoor areas that don't have good ventilation.

Some scientists have suggested that airborne transmission may have been responsible for coronavirus outbreaks at a choir practice in Washington state and a call center in South Korea.

The dangers about the WHO not acknowledging airborne transmission is that people will think that they are adequately protected by following the current recommendations, but with an airborne virus more preventative measures are needed to reduce the risk of infection.

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The WHO current recommendations for reducing coronavirus spread, focus mainly on hand washing and social distancing.

The scientists said these two measures were "insufficient" to protect against airborne transmission.

Although the WHO on 5 June started to recommend that people wear face masks in public and avoid crowded places, these measures might not be enough to protect the public.

Research have shown that face masks play a big role in lowering airborne transmission. WHO is very slow to recognize new science.

Dr. Benedetta Allegranzi, told the New York Times on Saturday, 4 July that they have been stating that they consider airborne transmission as possible, but not supported by clear evidence.

But the scientist in their open letter states that "air particles definitely pose a risk beyond any reasonable doubt".

This represents another instance where the WHO

has shied away from issuing public-health recommendations based on emerging science.

When the Center for Disease control early April advised people to wear masks in public, the WHO contradicted this recommendation by saying there was no need "for healthy people to wear masks".

Then last month, WHO's technical lead for the coronavirus, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, suggested that asymptomatic spread of the coronavirus was "rare". The statement conflicted with a spate of recent research suggesting that asymptomatic spread played a major role in coronavirus transmission. WHO later walked back its remarks, saying there was a "misunderstanding".

I have been saying to my family all along: somewhere somebody got it wrong because if hand washing, wearing your mask and keeping your distance prevents the disease from spreading, how can so many people get infected?

I won't go into this but I also said: that this virus is much more infectious than they are telling us. I based this opinion of mine on the big numbers of health care workers and doctors that got sick. They have all the protective clothing, the best masks and enough hand sanitizer in the hospitals. Why do they get sick? Just today a South African nurse died.

So, yes the saga continues and maybe the plot thickens as some countries experiencing a second wave of Covid-19 and are going back into hard lockdown.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.co.za/who-coronavirus-may-be-airborne-could-float-indoors-2020-7

Thank you for reading.

hope777