The droplets from simply talking can be enough to spread the coronavirus, according to researchers.
By using lasers, scientists found that one minute of talking loudly can produce more than 1,000 virus-containing droplets that could linger in the air for over 8 minutes, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
As states continue to gradually reopen, scientists fear that reopening too soon could worsen the virus outbreak. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified in front of a Senate panel Tuesday and said the consequences for states reopening without following proper guidelines “could be really serious.”
The study says because droplets that exist in an asymptomatic person’s mouth can carry respiratory pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, “there is a substantial probability that normal speaking causes airborne virus transmission in confined environments,” the authors wrote.
“This study builds on earlier research by the same team showing that speaking may factor into transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and adds support to the importance of wearing a mask, as recommended by the CDC, in potentially helping to slow the spread of the virus,” a spokesperson the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases told USA TODAY.
Erin Bromage, a biology professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, recently published a blog post that went viral explaining the high-risk environments that could lead to COVID-19 infections.
The list includes workplaces, public transport, social gatherings, restaurants and a person’s home, which account for 90% of the transmission events, Bromage writes.
“The reason to highlight these different outbreaks is to shoyou the commonality of outbreaks of COVID-19. All these infection events were indoors, with people closely-spaced, with lots of talking, singing, or yelling,” Bromage writes, referring to the different cases he references that have occurred throughout the nation.
In an interview with CNN’s New Day, Bromage said there are certain spaces people should avoid as states reopen.
“Any workplace or any environment that is not maintaining a reasonable number of people, that doesn’t have good air flow, where everything is being circulated, and if its noisy, that is a spot where I’d say I don’t need to be in here or I don’t need to be in here that long,” Bromage said.
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