WHO confirms role of aerosols in coronavirus contamination

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Although it has been called by scientists for some time, the world health organization WHO has now also recognized the role of aerosols in coronavirus contamination. This again emphasizes the importance of good ventilation in (school) buildings.

After research by the University of Amsterdam, University of Twente and the University of Cambridge, it has been finally decided: aerosols, very small particles / droplets in the air, play an important role in the risk of contamination from the corona virus. This fact was not clear for a long time, but this conclusion emerges from ‘more and more’ model studies, it is true to read on NOS.

Daniel Bonn, researcher at the University of Amsterdam, says he is relieved, but warns that ‘hard evidence’ does not exist. Yet according to him there are ‘a lot of things that you cannot quantitatively explain if you do not include that aerosol contamination’. The magnitude of the role of the aerosol in the pandemic cannot therefore be indicated. However, according to many studies, this role is significant, as can be seen from contamination in choirs, for example.

According to Bonn, this new insight means something that has been shouted for months: “Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate.” According to calculations that take into account aerosol contamination, you can also become contaminated in an indoor space at a distance of one and a half meters. For that reason, according to this calculation, home visits are extra risky, because ‘most ordinary houses are not very well ventilated’.

The above examples, according to Bonn, are reason enough to do more research into the ventilation of certain spaces, such as schools, gyms, restaurants and airplanes. The use of mouth mask should also be examined. According to Bonn, aerosols largely pass through regular and surgical masks, but not FFP2 masks. Wearing two mouth masks also appears to be a solution: “One mask works as a filter for your mouth and the other ensures that it seals the edges well.”

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