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NEW YORK: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed its guidance warning on possible airborne transmission of the novel coronavirus on Monday, saying the draft recommendation was published in error.
The now-retired guide, posted on the agency’s website on Friday, recommended that people use air purifiers to reduce germs in the air indoors to prevent the disease from spreading.
“The CDC is updating its recommendations regarding the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Once this process is complete, update language will be released,” the agency said.
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The CDC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on when the guide will be updated.
The health agency had said that COVID-19 could be spread via airborne particles that can remain suspended in the air and travel beyond six feet.
Currently, the agency’s guidance says that the virus is transmitted primarily person-to-person through respiratory droplets, which can fall into the mouth or nose of those nearby.
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Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump objected to comments from the CDC director, who said the masks could be even more effective than a vaccine for the novel coronavirus that could be widely deployed in mid-September. 2021.
That followed a New York Times report that the guidance on novel coronavirus testing published last month on the CDC’s website was not written by agency scientists and was published despite their objections.
The World Health Organization has not changed its policy on aerosol transmission of the coronavirus, it said Monday.
The agency still believes that the disease is transmitted primarily through droplets, but that in confined, crowded spaces with inadequate ventilation, aerosol transmission can occur, said Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO emergency program.
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