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More Evidence That the Coronavirus Is Airborne
In early July, 239 health experts argued in a paper that the coronavirus was airborne and could spread via tiny droplets released when people talk, breathe, and cough. These droplets, they said, could stay afloat and travel beyond six feet. This argument put them at odds with the World Health Organization, which hesitated before finally acknowledging that airborne spread was possible.
Now, new evidence that the coronavirus is airborne comes from a study of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, where an early outbreak of Covid-19 infected over 700 people in January. Computer modeling of the ship outbreak suggests that the virus spread through tiny droplets that floated in the air for at least several minutes. The study, published in the preprint server medRxiv, has not yet been peer reviewed, but New York Times reporters shared it with nearly a dozen experts on aerosols and infectious disease.
