Be careful, it turns out that Covid-19 spreads more easily than you thought

KOMPAS.com – Since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the most frequent debates has been the possibility of the corona virus spreading through the air or not.

In an official report uploaded in early July, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the corona virus can spread through the air.

However, there are still many parties that doubt this conclusion.

Well, recently, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also supported a WHO report that claimed the possibility of spreading the corona virus through the air.

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On its official website, the CDC says that the corona virus can be spread through saliva (droplet) or tiny particles that a person produces when breathing.

“Airborne viruses, including Covid-19, are the most contagious and spread easily,” the CDC website explains.

Before the guidelines were updated, the CDC stated that Covid-19 is believed to spread when someone is very close to another person, within six feet.

The CDC also said that Covid-19 can be spread through respiratory droplets when someone who is infected with the virus speaks and experiences a cough or sneeze.

The explanation on the page was updated on Friday (9/18/2020).

“Covid-19 is transmitted through respiratory droplets or small aerosol-like particles that are produced when someone infected with the virus coughs, sneezes, sings, speaks or breathes.”

These particles can trigger an infection when inhaled through the nose, mouth, airways, and lungs.

“This is considered to be the main way to spread the virus,” the written explanation read.

The CDC page also adds that there is evidence that respiratory droplets and particles can remain in the air and be inhaled by others and spread more than six feet away.

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“In general, confined spaces without adequate ventilation increase this risk.”

With that in mind, the CDC later updated its guidelines to protect ourselves and others.

Previously, they advised everyone to keep a physical distance of about six feet, wash their hands, clean and disinfect surfaces regularly, and wear masks when around other people.

Currently, the guide update mentions that everyone should keep a distance of at least two meters from each other whenever possible.

Then ask people to wear masks and clean and disinfect surfaces.

Also, the CDC added, a person should self-isolate at home when exposed to the virus and use an air purifier to reduce germs in the room.

This guideline update changes the terms “some people without symptoms ‘probably’ can transmit the virus” to “people who are infected, but who are asymptomatic, ‘may’ transmit the virus to other people.

The argument in favor of the spread of Covid-19 by air also has the support of experts.

The scientists noted the possible transmission of the corona virus through virus particles in the air.

Last April, a scientific panel, a group of experts that represents a problem, wrote a letter to the White House that contained findings related to the coronavirus.

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There it was said that Covid-19 is not only transmitted by sneezing or coughing, but also by speaking and breathing.

“Specific research for the corona virus is currently limited, but the results of existing studies consistently suggest that the spread of the virus originates from respiration.”

So reads a letter written by Dr. Harvey Fineberg, former dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and chair of the NAS Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and Health Threats of the 21st Century.

“Current research supports the possibility that the corona virus could be spread through a bioaerosol that is produced from the patient’s breath,” the letter said.

In July, 239 scientists published letters to the WHO and other health organizations.

Scientists urge the WHO and other health organizations around the world to be more open about the possibility of people contracting the virus from airborne respiratory droplets.

“The guidelines of various national and international agencies focus on hand washing, distancing and prevention droplet“wrote the scientists.

The letter was published in a magazine. Infectious Clinical Diseases.

They also assessed that most health organizations, including WHO, do not recognize airborne transmission of the virus, apart from health centers that undergo procedures to produce aerosols.

“Washing your hands and keeping your distance is appropriate, but from our point of view, it doesn’t really provide protection against the tiny droplets that people infected with the virus release into the air.”

After the letter was published, the WHO released a report detailing how coronavirus can be transmitted from one person to another.

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Transmission includes airborne transmission during certain medical procedures and possibly through indoor air.

The letter’s co-author, Donald Milton, a professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland who studies the virus transmission process, said the CDC guidelines were an important advance.

“I was excited to see the CDC watch and move with the science. The evidence is mounting,” wrote Milton. emailto the CNN.

Milton referred to the findings from the pre-print study published in August as important additional information for the coronavirus, which originates from aerosol particles that spread more than two meters away.

“It is time for the WHO to acknowledge the progress of science,” Milton said.