Is The Coronavirus Airborne?

By Mosimileoluwa Alabi

24 March 2020

The spread of the Coronavirus in Nigeria and other affected countries has been rapid and quite aggressive. This has left a lot of us thinking, ?How does this virus really spread??, ?Is the Coronavirus airborne??, ?Do I have to isolate completely isolate myself from the outside world to be safe??

If these questions and many more trail your sub-conscious, then this article is for you.

What Really Is Coronavirus?

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause disease in animals. The Covid-19, a new virus from the family of Coronaviruses is a virus that causes an infectious respiratory illness in humans with symptoms such as cough, fever and in severe cases, difficulty in breathing. Covid-19 is one of seven Coronaviruses that have started infecting humans.

The original hosts of the coronaviruses are bats.

How Is Coronavirus Spread?

Is Coronavirus Airborne?

Coronavirus is spread primarily through contact with an infected person when they cough or sneeze. It is also spread when uninfected persons touch a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touch their eyes, nose or mouth.

From the above, we know that the virus?s major route of transmission from one person to another is through droplets that are sneezed or coughed out by infected people.

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Is the Coronavirus Airborne?

While it is in these droplets, the Coronavirus is only in the air for a short time and travels only a short distance before being pulled down by gravity-where it rests on surfaces or gets inhaled. However, the exact length of time that the virus can live in the air is still being researched.

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine by scientists from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Universities of California, LA, Princeton shows that the virus can stay as aerosol in the air for up to 3 hours. Although, not in significant quantities.

Health officials have said that the Coronavirus can?become airborne, staying suspended in the air for hours. However, this depends on the heat and humidity.

It is important to note that other studies are ongoing, but if this is correct, it might explain why so many people are getting infected quickly.

What is WHO Saying?

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization said it was considering ?airborne precautions? for medical staff after a study showed that COVID-19 can survive in the air in some settings.

Practice Social Distancing

However long the virus can stay in the air, while it is still in the air as droplets from a cough or sneeze, anyone within 2-3 feet of the cough or sneeze can breathe it in and become infected.

This is why you need to practice social distancing.

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