This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
On July 8, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged emerging evidence that the coronavirus can be spread by tiny particles suspended in the air.
According to Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO's technical lead for infection prevention and control, evidence of airborne transmission of the coronavirus in 'crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings' cannot be ruled out.
WHO officials have cautioned that the evidence is preliminary and requires further assessment.
However, the acknowledgment of airborne transmission is a significant shift in the WHO's position, which has previously insisted that Covid-19 is transmitted via droplets emitted when people cough or sneeze.
239 scientists from 32 countries had signed an open letter accusing the WHO of underestimating the possibility of airborne transmission.
Jose Jimenez, a chemist at the University of Colorado, said, 'We wanted them to acknowledge the evidence.' He added, 'This is definitely not an attack on the WHO. It's a scientific debate, but we felt we needed to go public because they were refusing to hear the evidence after many conversations with them.'
Professor Benjamin Cowling of Hong Kong University emphasized the importance of the finding, stating, 'In healthcare settings, if aerosol transmission poses a risk then we understand healthcare workers should really be wearing the best possible preventive equipment... and actually the World Health Organization said that one of the reasons they were not keen to talk about aerosol transmission of Covid-19 is because there's not a sufficient number of these kind of specialised masks for many parts of the world.'
