COVID-19 virus airborne upto 4 metres, health workers under risk

Contrary to common belief, a new revelation has found that Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes the highly infectious COVID-19, can be airborne for up to four metres putting the health workers more at risk.

A recent study by Chinese researchers which was published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) examined air samples in hospital wards with COVID-19 patients.

It showed the virus was found suspended in the air in hospital wards and ICUs four metres away from patients, four times more than the distance recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for safety, reports Hindustan Times.

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The examination also showed that most samples taken from the soles of the ICU medical staff’ shoes tested positive. Putting the hospital wards at high risk, the virus was also found on frequently touched surfaces.

Many countries including India made it mandatory to wear masks after it was contended that the virus is airborne and can remain in the mist that gets produced when people breathe or speak.

According to reports, WHO in March said aerosol transmission can be possible only in rare circumstances like, when severely ill patients are intubated with a breathing tube.

However, experts believe that aerosolisation of the COVID-19 is difficult for scientists to study, because it is unclear as to how infectious it is when found in mist.

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(With inputs from agencies)