COVID-19 guidance
Importance of moving activities outdoors and ensuring proper ventilation indoors stressed, as experts urge science community to clarify definitions


Date:
October 5, 2020
Source:
University of California - San Diego
Summary:
Experts with leading research institutions across the United States
are urging that researchers across disciplines must converge to
deliver clear public health guidance about how SARS-CoV-2 is spread
in the air.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Scientists affiliated with leading research institutions across the
U.S. state in a letter published Monday in the journal Science that
researchers across disciplines must converge to deliver clear public
health guidance about how SARS-CoV-2 is spread in the air.


==========================================================================
The researchers write in the open letter that the scientific community
must clarify the terminology used related to aerosols and droplets,
and employ a more modern size threshold, rather than the existing one
based on 1930s-era work. Authors include experts from the University of California San Diego, University of Maryland, Virginia Tech, and others.

Public health officials should make a clear distinction between
droplets ejected by coughing or sneezing -- which have inspired the
social distancing mantra of six feet of separation between people -- and aerosols that can carry the virus for much greater distances. Viruses in aerosols smaller than 100 microns can remain airborne in a confined space
for prolonged periods of time, and accumulate in poorly ventilated air,
leading to transmission.

"The balance of attention must be shifted to protecting against airborne transmission," said the group, led by Kimberly Prather, Director of
the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Aerosol Impacts on
Chemistry of the Environment based at Scripps Institution of Oceanography
at UC San Diego.

"Viruses in aerosols can remain suspended in air for many seconds to
hours, like smoke, and be inhaled," according to the letter. "They are
highly concentrated near an infected person, so they can infect people
most easily in close proximity. But aerosols containing infectious virus
can also travel more than [two meters] and accumulate in poorly ventilated indoor air, leading to superspreading events." In addition to mask
wearing, social distancing and hygiene efforts, the researchers urge for
public health officials to articulate the importance of moving activities outdoors, improving indoor air using ventilation and filtration, and
improving protection for high risk workers.

"The goal of this letter is to make it clear that the SARS-Cov-2 virus
travels in the air and people can become infected via inhalation," said Prather, a distinguished professor who holds a joint appointment between
UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and its Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "It is important to acknowledge this
pathway so efforts can focus on cleaning the air and providing guidance
on how to avoid risky indoor settings." Co-author Linsey Marr, the
Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
at Virginia Tech and an expert on airborne transmission of viruses,
added, "It is important for people to wear masks at all times in public buildings and confined spaces, not only when we can't maintain social
distance. This isn't just an academic question, but a point that will help reduce transmission if public health officials offer clear and forceful guidance about this." Along with Prather and Marr, letter authors
include physicians Robert Schooley of UC San Diego School of Medicine,
Melissa McDiarmid and Donald Milton of the University of Maryland,
and Mary Wilson of the University of California, San Francisco School
of Medicine and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_San_Diego. Original written by Lauren Fimbres
Wood. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kimberly A. Prather, Linsey C. Marr, Robert T. Schooley, Melissa A.

McDiarmid, Mary E. Wilson, Donald K. Milton. Airborne transmission
of SARS-CoV-2. Science, Oct. 5, 2020; DOI: 10.1126/science.abf0521 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201005140820.htm

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