Scientists call on WHO to address airborne spread of coronavirus

A woman wears a mask while shopping for groceries.
(Image credit: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

More than 230 scientists from 32 countries are asking the World Health Organization to address growing evidence that the coronavirus can spread indoors via aerosols that float in the air, The New York Times reports.

The WHO has maintained that the coronavirus is primarily spread by infected people who sneeze and cough, with their large respiratory droplets falling to the ground quickly. In its most recent guidance, the WHO said airborne transmission of the virus is only possible after medical procedures that produce aerosols. The scientists disagree, writing in a soon-to-be-published open letter that smaller exhaled particles can infect people, and the WHO's recommendations should be revised.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.