Coronavirus Can Survive in Air: Study

The World Health Organization, after a recent report found that the coronavirus can live in the environment in certain conditions, is considering "airborne precautions" for medical staff.

The virus is transmitted through droplets, or little bits of liquid, mostly through sneezing or coughing, told reporters during a virtual news conference on Monday, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the emerging diseases and zoonosis unit at the WHO. “When you do an aerosol-generating procedure like in a medical care facility, you have the possibility to what we call aerosolize these particles, which means they can stay in the air a little bit longer.”

She added: “It’s very important that health-care workers take additional precautions when they’re working on patients and doing those procedures.”

The infectious disorder travels by human-to-human touch, droplets borne by sneezing and coughing as well as germs deposited on inanimate items are claimed by world health authorities. The coronavirus will go airborne, they said, remaining floating in the air based on factors such as heat and moisture.

Kerkhove said health officials are aware of several studies in a number of countries looking at the different environmental conditions that COVID-19 can persist. Scientists are specifically looking at how humidity, temperature, and ultraviolet lighting affects the disease as well as how long it lives on different surfaces, including steel, she said.

Health officials use the information to make sure WHO’s guidance is appropriate, and “so far ... we are confident that the guidance that we have is appropriate,” she added. Health officials recommend medical staff wear so-called N95 masks because they filter out about 95% of all liquid or airborne particles.

“In health-care facilities, we make sure health-care workers use standard droplet precautions with the exception ... that they’re doing an aerosol-generating procedure,” she said.

Source: CNBC.com