Airborne transmission of Covid-19

Writer: Hedda Mittner.

With ongoing research around the world on the novel Coronavirus that causes Covid-19, new evidence keeps coming to light about how the virus is transmitted, how it affects those who are infected, how best to treat the disease, and what long-term damage is suffered by those who do recover.

Perhaps the most important of these is the aspect of transmission – and understanding exactly how people are becoming infected with Covid-19 – as this would inform decisions made in the everyday lives of people that could help prevent infections.

Although little was known about this particular virus when it first started spreading around the globe at the beginning of the year, word from the World Health Organisation (WHO) was that Covid-19 is a respiratory disease that is primarily spread by small droplets through person-to-person contact. These respiratory droplets were heavy enough to fall to the floor pretty quickly, the WHO said, which meant that transmission could only occur if an infected person sneezed or coughed close to you, or if you touched a contaminated surface and transferred the virus by touching your face. This is what all the hand-washing, mask-wearing and social distancing recommendations were based on.

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