The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged “emerging evidence” that the coronavirus can be transmitted through the air, according to an NBC News report.
Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, said in a Tuesday briefing that the organization has had “active engagement” with a group that scientists that urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease is spread.
COVID-19 was believed to be spread through respiratory droplets, but experts have recently added that tiny viral particles can spread when people sign, speak loudly or breath heavily, accord to the report.
Van Kerkhove said the WHO is now constructing a scientific brief to summarize everything that is known about coronavirus transmission, which will be released in the coming days.
On Monday, more than 230 scientists in various fields called for the WHO and other health officials to acknowledge evidence that suggests the coronavirus can spread in the air.
200 Scientists warn that we are ignoring important evidence on how the coronavirus spreads
A letter published this week in the journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, scientists from Australia and the U.S. wrote that studies have shown “beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air.”
The evidence could mean that people in certain indoor conditions could be at greater risk of being infected. The WHO earlier dismissed the possibility of airborne transmission of the disease, with the exception of certain high-risk medical procedures.
In a statement Monday, the U.N. Health Agency said it was reviewing the new evidence with technical experts.
