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After Over A Year Into The Pandemic, WHO Finally Admits Coronavirus Airborne Transmission Is Possible

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  • The World Health Organization has finally updated its guidelines, specifying airborne transmission is possible for Covid-19.
  • “A person can be infected when aerosols or droplets containing the virus are inhaled or come directly into contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth,” the new guideline read.
  • Back in March 2020, WHO declared that coronavirus is “NOT airborne” and can only be “transmitted through droplets.”

The World Health Organization officially declared Covid-19 as a pandemic back in March 11, 2020. Back then, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported that the virus has reached 114 countries, infected over 118,000 individuals, and claimed 4,291 lives.

“In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher,” Ghebreyesus said.

A WHO tweet dated March 29, 2020 specifically pointed out that Covid-19 is “NOT airborne.”

Available information about the coronavirus was limited at the time and fast forward to the present, the organization has finally admitted that the dreaded disease is actually airborne.

Of course, news observers would know that this wasn’t the first time that the concept has been mentioned. In April 2020, some researchers have mentioned that “the world should face the reality” of airborne transmission – which has since been described by others as “the dominant route for the spread of Covid-19” in June.

By July, 239 scientists wrote an open letter published in the Clinical Infectious Disease journal entitled “It Is Time to Address Airborne Transmission of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).”

They claimed studies “have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking, and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in air and pose a risk of exposure at distances beyond 1–2 m from an infected individual.”

Conicidentally, WHO, on the same month, declared “Short-range aerosol transmission, particularly in specific indoor locations, such as crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces over a prolonged period of time with infected persons cannot be ruled out.”

Now for the first time ever, WHO has admitted that, yes, the virus is actually airborne.

In its updated guidelines, we read:

“Current evidence suggests that the virus spreads mainly between people who are in close contact with each other, typically within 1 metre (short-range). A person can be infected when aerosols or droplets containing the virus are inhaled or come directly into contact with the eyes, nose, or mouth. The virus can also spread in poorly ventilated and/or crowded indoor settings, where people tend to spend longer periods of time. This is because aerosols remain suspended in the air or travel farther than 1 metre (long-range).”

While many welcomed the new guideline, others couldn’t help but ask why it took WHO too long to admit the possibility of airborne transmission when numerous scientists have declared it early on in the pandemic.

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