You know that feeling when you keep repeating yourself over and over again because the other party refuse to listen or accept your logic?
Tiring right?
That was the situation the scientists were places in after repeatedly trying to tell WHO and the other authorities that COVID-19 is airborne.
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At least they are finally able to accept this claim… after a year.
WHO & Other Authorities Agreed that COVID-19 is Airborne After Scientist Repeatedly Claimed It for a Year
More than a year after the virus was first detected in China, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are beginning to accept that SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, is airborne.
Till now, the WHO’s guidelines suggest that the coronavirus is mainly transmitted “between people who are in close contact with each other, typically within 1m”.
Let’s hope TraceTogether doesn’t list everyone within your Bluetooth range as close contact with this new information.
This can potentially have wide-ranging consequences: scientists have been urging that guidelines on ventilation systems be drastically revised to provide for pollutant- and pathogen-free air, and that call is one step closer to reality with political support, according to The Straits Times.
A study published on Friday compares the scale of ventilation improvements needed to the 1842 Chadwick’s Sanitary Report in the United Kingdom, when clean water supplies and centralised sanitation systems—today an ubiquitous sight—were first conceptualised to fight cholera.
The study further argues that cleaner indoor air will minimise the risk of flus and other respiratory infections, which cause more than US$50 billion of economic losses in the United States alone.
The authors, comprising of 39 scientists and from 14 countries, are calling for global recognition that fighting COVID-19 requires overhauls in indoor ventilation systems. These include higher airflow, filtration, and disinfection standards, and monitors that inform the public of air quality within a building.
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Looks around at the towers all around us and thinks of the money needed to renovate every one of them
The scientists based their findings on the presence of aerosols emitted when people breathe, speak, cough, or sneeze, which are microscopic particles that can stay in the air for hours.
The continued lingering of these particles can make even mask-wearing and social distancing insufficient, and infectious aerosols can remain at hazardous concentrations in enclosed indoor spaces even when they are not crowded.
In light of these findings, Dr Raina MacIntyre of the University of New South Wales has gone as far as to denounce handwashing as “hygiene theatre”, believing inadequate ventilation to be a major culprit behind the pandemic.
It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wash your hands or wear your mask, though. After all, if you kena COVID-19, it’ll be too late to blame the Building and Construction Authority for inadequate standards.
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You can watch this video to understand why masks are still important:
Featured Image: Andrii Vodolazhskyi / Shutterstock.com
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