The coronavirus is a bit like Playmade’s Wasabi Milk Tea – we still don’t know much about it or how it was created, but just the very mention of it sends shivers down our spines.
Every day, medical experts keep blessing the public with even more frightening findings about the contagious virus that has infected over 15 million people.
One day someone says it can cause toe rashes, and another someone else says it can cause strokes in otherwise healthy people.
Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it’s acknowledged “emerging evidence” that the virus can be spread through the air, though it hasn’t been conclusively proven.
Still, it has led many to panic. I mean, what’s more terrifying than a virus than can glide through the air?
Reader: A giant tarantula that can fly through the air?
Ok, that’s a good point.Â
Anyway, I’m happy to tell you that today’s not one of those days where I make you even more depressed or anxious about the Covid-19 outbreak.
Today, I’m here to ease your fears.
Expert Says Coronavirus Unlikely to Spread Through Air-Conditioning Systems
Even if the coronavirus is airborne, it’s unlikely that it can be spread through air-conditioning, said local infectious diseases experts.
Reader: But what if someone in my office coughs and the virus spreads through our air-conditioning system?
Well, firstly, that person should be at home if he’s sick. And he should also be wearing a mask.
Reader: What are you, a safe distancing ambassador or something?
For the sake of argument, let’s say he was digging into his hot bowl of Instant Ramen and coughed while bare-faced, it’d be highly unlikely for him to spread the coronavirus even if he had it.
At least that’s what Professor Ooi Eng Eong, deputy director of Duke-NUS’ emerging infectious diseases programme, said.
See, when a person expels an aerosol through a cough or sneeze, and it’s sucked into the building’s air-conditioning system, Prof Ooi believes it wouldn’t contain enough particles to infect another person through the air vent.
“The entire process would have diluted the virus so much that whoever manages to inhale it would not have enough particles (in their system) to cause the infection,” he said, in a Straits Times webinar on Covid-19.
In other words, you can remove that duct tape from your air vents and turn on your air-conditioner again.
The Name’s Borne, Airborne
When you hear that a virus is airborne, you’re probably picturing it flying through the air like an eagle, waiting to swoop down and infect unsuspecting individuals on the street.
While aerosols can, in theory, suspend and drift after being expelled, airborne transmission would only occur in crowded, closed, or poorly ventilated settings, said Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO’s technical lead for infection prevention and control.
Professor Dale Fisher, a senior infectious diseases expert at NUH, said that airborne transmission would not be a “major driver” of the disease.
This is mainly due to its transmissibility.
A Low ROÂ
In case you don’t know, while Covid-19 is pretty contagious, it couldn’t hold a candle to other viruses like chickenpox and measles, which have a much higher level of transmission.
Experts measure a virus’ transmissibility using a reproductive number, or RO. The higher it is, the more contagious it is.
While viruses like chickenpox and measles have ROs of more than 10, Covid-19 has an R0 of around 2.5, which is nowhere near as high.
As Prof Ooi said, “A minimum number of viruses (have) to get into the body… however, if there’re not enough viral particles that get into the airway, nothing is going to happen. So that’s why measles and chickenpox can be transmitted by the aerosol route because you need so few particles and you’ll still get the disease.”
This is why wearing masks and washing your hands frequently is so important. Until we find a vaccine, these are the only weapons we can employ against the coronavirus, as well as physical distancing.
Hopefully, we’ll find a vaccine soon so we can stop staring at innocuous-looking objects in our room worried that we’ll get the coronavirus from it.
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
