A plea issued by 239 scientists from around the world to recognize and mitigate airborne transmission of COVID-19 addressed to international health authorities is to be published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The 239 signatories from 32 countries come from many different areas of science and engineering, including virology, aerosol physics, flow dynamics, exposure and epidemiology, medicine, and building engineering.
Led by internationally recognized air quality and health expert QUT Professor Lidia Morawska, the appeal is to address the overwhelming research finding that an infected person exhales airborne virus droplets when breathing and talking that can travel further than the current 1.5m social distance requirement.
“Studies by the signatories and other scientists have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are exhaled in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air and pose a risk of exposure beyond 1 to 2m by an infected person,” Professor Morawska, director of the International Air Quality and Health Laboratory, said.
“At typical indoor air velocities, a 5-micron droplet will travel tens of meters, much greater than the scale of a typical room while settling from a height of 1.5m above the floor.”
Signatories to the appeal come from many disciplines including different areas of science and engineering, including virology, aerosol physics, flow dynamics, exposure and epidemiology, medicine, and building engineering.
“Expertise in many science and engineering areas…
