Airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2: The world should face the reality
Open accessAbstract
Hand washing and maintaining social distance are the main measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to avoid contracting COVID-19. Unfortunately, these measured do not prevent infection by inhalation of small droplets exhaled by an infected person that can travel distance of meters or tens of meters in the air and carry their viral content. Science explains the mechanisms of such transport and there is evidence that this is a significant route of infection in indoor environments. Despite this, no countries or authorities consider airborne spread of COVID-19 in their regulations to prevent infections transmission indoors. It is therefore extremely important, that the national authorities acknowledge the reality that the virus spreads through air, and recommend that adequate control measures be implemented to prevent further spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in particularly removal of the virus-laden droplets from indoor air by ventilation.
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There is a growing body of literature that supports airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 playing an increasingly important role in the spread of the disease.
“With the progression of the pandemic there is a growing body of literature that supports airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 playing an increasingly important role in the spread of the disease [29, 39–44].”
From The protective performance of reusable cloth face masks, disposable procedure masks, KN95 masks and N95 respirators: Filtration and total inward leakage (2021) · cites this paper as [43]
The Abstract (page unavailable) says there is evidence that airborne spread is a significant route of infection indoors and argues that SARS-CoV-2 likely spreads through air. It does not establish that the literature on SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission was growing or that this route was playing an increasingly important role as the pandemic progressed; the authors say confirmation could take months. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredNumerous publications have attempted to overturn mistaken ideas about transmission routes for respiratory infectious diseases and have initiated a paradigm shift towards more accurate definitions.
“Numerous publications have attempted to overturn mistaken ideas about transmission routes for respiratory infectious diseases,117, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143 and have initiated a paradigm shift towards more accurate definitions.117”
From The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic (2022) · cites this paper as [141]
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- Authors
- Morawska, L., & Cao, J.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- ORCID
- Cao, Junji
- Venue
- Environment International
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-06
- Volume
- 139
- Pages
- 105730
- ISSN
- 0160-4120 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7151430
- OpenAlex
- W3016207602
- Cited by
- 1,728
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 61 · 2025: 98 · 2024: 139 · 2023: 181 · 2022: 316 · 2021: 522 · 2020: 408 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 201.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Environment International (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › COVID-19 impact on air quality
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › General Dentistry › Dental Research and COVID-19
- Keywords
- SARS-CoV-2, airborne transmission, COVID-19 pandemic, indoor air quality, droplet transmission, ventilation, infection control measures, social distancing, hand washing, indoor air pollution
- MeSH terms
- Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Humans, Pneumonia, Viral, Ventilation, Air Pollution, Indoor, Coronavirus Infections, Pandemics
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