The new coronavirus could be spread just by talking or breathing, according to a member of the White House coronavirus task force.
“The research currently available supports the possibility that (the coronavirus) could spread via bioaerosols generated directly by the exhalation of patients,” Professor Harvey Fineberg, chairman of a committee at the National Academy of Sciences, told CNN.
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It is accepted by the scientific community that the virus is spread from one infected person to another through coughing, or sneezing. But in a letter to Kelvin Droegemeier, a member of the White House Bureau of Science and Technology Policy, the professor explains that he supports this new thesis on a study carried out in a Chinese hospital.
Airborne droplets
It noted that the virus could remain in the air when the nursing staff removed their protective equipment, when cleaning the floor or when the staff was on the move. Suspended coronavirus droplets could infect people who cross their path.
The length of the suspension varies depending on several factors. One of them depends on the amount of virus emitted by an infected person by speaking or breathing. Air circulation is another important criterion.
According to Professor Fineberg, in a closed room, “it is conceivable that if you walk around later, you could inhale the virus.” But if the virus is released into the open air “the breeze will probably disperse it,” the scientist concluded.
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