Breaking: Covid-19 could be more airborne than thought-WHO

WHO reconsiders stance after 239 scientists pressured the agency

The virus could be more airborne than was previously thought

The World Health Organization acknowledged there was "emerging evidence" on airborne transmission of the coronavirus after an international group of scientists said it could spread far beyond two metres (6 feet).

"We acknowledge that there is emerging evidence in this field ... therefore we believe that we have to be open to this evidence and understand its implications," the WHO's Professor Benedetta Allegranzi told a virtual press briefing.

More than 200 scientists called on the WHO to acknowledge the coronavirus can spread in the air - a change that could alter some measures taken to stop the pandemic.

It would mean people in certain indoor conditions could be at greater risk of being infected than was previously thought.

For months, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said COVID-19 spreads mainly via direct contact with large respiratory droplets, like those expelled in a sick person’s cough or sneeze as against the research made by scientists.

In a letter published this week in Clinical Infectious Diseases, 239 scientists say the agency may be wrong  thereby making the WHO to reconsider its stance.

It’s only the latest chapter in an ongoing tug of war between the WHO and the rest of the public-health world.

Source: News Agencies