Accordingly the World health Organization WHO has acknowledged that there is evidence emerging that the novel Coronavirus can be spread by small particles suspended in the air. Meanwhile the airborne transmission could not be ruled out in crowded, closed or poorly ventilated settings, an official was quoted as saying by the BBC on Wednesday. If the evidence is confirmed, it may affect guidelines for indoor spaces. Interestingly, the WHO observation on the dreaded virus comes in the wake of an open letter written by more than 200 scientists who had accused the WHO of underestimating the possibility of airborne transmission.
Perhaps the WHO has so far maintained that the virus is transmitted through droplets when people cough or sneeze. "We wanted them to acknowledge the evidence," Jose Jimenez, a chemist at the university of Colorado who signed the paper, told a news agency. He said "This is definitely not an attack on the WHO. It is a scientific debate, but we felt the need to go public because they were refusing to hear the evidence after many conversations with them".
However, WHO officials have cautioned that the evidence is preliminary and requires further assessment. Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO''s technical lead for infection prevention and control, said that evidence emerging of airborne transmission of the coronavirus in "crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings that have been described, cannot be ruled out". The WHO has now admitted there was evidence to suggest this was possible in specific settings, such as enclosed and crowded spaces.
