WHO confirms “emerging evidence” of airborne transmission of COVID-19

Geneva: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed that there is an “emerging evidence” of airborne transmission of the coronavirus, CNN reported.

The confirmation came after the publication of a letter on Monday signed by 239 scientists urging the agency to be more forthcoming about the likelihood that people can catch the virus from droplets floating in the air.

“We acknowledge that there is emerging evidence in this field, as in all other fields regarding the COVID-19 virus and pandemic and therefore, we believe that we have to be open to this evidence and understand its implications regarding the modes of transmission and also regarding the precautions that need to be taken,” Dr. Benedetta Alleganzi, WHO Technical Lead for Infection Prevention and Control was quoted as saying.

Infectious disease epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkove, with WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said, “We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission as one of the modes of transmission of Covid-19, as well as a droplet. We have looked at fomites. We’ve looked at fecal-oral. We have looked at mother to child. We’ve looked at the animal to human, of course as well.”

Alleganzi added that more research still needs to be done on the COVID-19 transmission.

“So, these are fields of research that are really growing and for which there is some evidence emerging but is not definitive,” she said.

“And therefore, the possibility of airborne transmission in public settings, especially in very specific conditions like crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings that have been described cannot be ruled out. However, the evidence needs to be gathered and interpreted,” she added.

Source: ANI