If COVID-19 is transmitted via airborne particles, how might testing change?

If COVID-19 is transmitted via airborne particles, how might testing change?

Though the potential for airborne transmission likely wouldn't change testing methods outside of a push for more extensive testing in general, it might influence policy regarding mandating mask wearing, air purification and ventilation systems, and other methods of prevention related to airborne viral spread. SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is not airborne in the traditional sense. COVID-19 spreads primarily through relatively large respiratory droplets that fall to the ground and into faces and bodies of others. These larger droplets, 'respiratory droplets,’ are wet from saliva and mucus and fall quickly to the ground. Scientists think this type of infectious droplet is how the majority of COVID-19 infections spread.  On the other hand, examples of airborne diseases are tuberculosis and measles, and the way these diseases spread is primarily through the air in smaller particles called 'microdroplets' or 'droplet nuclei.' Smaller droplets can stay in the air for longer periods of time because they are so small and light. Exhalation, talking, coughing, and singing can cause these small droplets to linger in the air for hours after a person leaves a room. SARS-CoV-2 viral particles may be part of these tiny droplets, and can travel beyond 6 feet (2m) in certain situations, but the disease is still not understood to be transmitted primarily through lingering infectious particles in the air.  The aerosol or airborne transmission of COVID-19 occurs more indoors in close contact. This might mean that people who don't fall into the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-defined category of "exposed" to the virus (within 6 feet or 2m of an infected person for more than 15 minutes), but were in the same room as an infected person for an extended period of time, may now be considered ‘exposed’ and require testing. There is currently some controversy around this topic, as 239 scientists recently sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) urging them to recognize the potential of people catching the virus from droplet nuclei via airborne transmission. These scientists believe that the evidence supporting the concept of airborne transmission mean current procedures like social distancing and vigorous hand-washing do not provide enough protection from virus-carrying microdroplets that can stay suspended in the air for hours. Thus, the potential for people inhaling these droplet nuclei into their noses and mouths means additional prevention steps are needed. The WHO previously maintained that the novel coronavirus is mainly spread by respiratory droplet transmission, but has since acknowledged the emerging evidence for airborne transmission in "crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings," while cautioning that the evidence is preliminary and should be assessed further.

Though the potential for airborne transmission likely wouldn't change testing methods outside of a push for more extensive testing in general, it might influence policy regarding mandating mask wearing, air purification and ventilation systems, and other methods of prevention related to airborne viral spread. SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is not airborne in the traditional sense. COVID-19 spreads primarily through relatively large respiratory droplets that fall to the ground and into faces and bodies of others. These larger droplets, 'respiratory droplets,’ are wet from saliva and mucus and fall quickly to the ground. Scientists think this type of infectious droplet is how the majority of COVID-19 infections spread.  On the other hand, examples of airborne diseases are tuberculosis and measles, and the way these diseases spread is primarily through the air in smaller particles called 'microdroplets' or 'droplet nuclei.' Smaller droplets can stay in the air for longer periods of time because they are so small and light. Exhalation, talking, coughing, and singing can cause these small droplets to linger in the air for hours after a person leaves a room. SARS-CoV-2 viral particles may be part of these tiny droplets, and can travel beyond 6 feet (2m) in certain situations, but the disease is still not understood to be transmitted primarily through lingering infectious particles in the air.  The aerosol or airborne transmission of COVID-19 occurs more indoors in close contact. This might mean that people who don't fall into the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-defined category of "exposed" to the virus (within 6 feet or 2m of an infected person for more than 15 minutes), but were in the same room as an infected person for an extended period of time, may now be considered ‘exposed’ and require testing. There is currently some controversy around this topic, as 239 scientists recently sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) urging them to recognize the potential of people catching the virus from droplet nuclei via airborne transmission. These scientists believe that the evidence supporting the concept of airborne transmission mean current procedures like social distancing and vigorous hand-washing do not provide enough protection from virus-carrying microdroplets that can stay suspended in the air for hours. Thus, the potential for people inhaling these droplet nuclei into their noses and mouths means additional prevention steps are needed. The WHO previously maintained that the novel coronavirus is mainly spread by respiratory droplet transmission, but has since acknowledged the emerging evidence for airborne transmission in "crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings," while cautioning that the evidence is preliminary and should be assessed further.

Media briefing

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July 13, 2020

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