Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony has stated that with new evidence on the airborne transmission of COVID-19, it is recommended that persons in indoor work environments wear facemasks.
During his daily COVID-19 update on Wednesday, Anthony noted that for a long time it has been hypothesised that the virus is airborne in many ways.
“It has been postulated that this disease is also airborne in many ways and that is because if an infected person sneezes, apart from droplets there would be aerosols. Aerosols are much smaller than droplets and they contain viral particles and if that happens in an indoor environment, those small particles can remain suspended in the air for a longer period of time,” he explained.
He also stated that in this example the infected person can leave the room but those viral particles will remain floating in the air for a period of time. Initially, he said, it was thought that transmission only occurred through droplets then later by touching infected surfaces and as a result persons can become infected in a number of ways.
In its updated Scientific Brief on COVID-19 transmission, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said transmission from inhalation of the virus in the air farther than six feet from an infectious source can occur.
It stated, “Although infections through inhalation at distances greater than six feet from an infectious source are less likely than at closer distances, the phenomenon has been repeatedly documented under certain preventable circumstances.”
It added that these event involved an infectious persons exhaling the virus indoors for an extended period of time more than 15 minutes, leaving virus concentrations in the air sufficient enough to transmit the virus to people more than six feet away or in some cases people who have passed through said indoor space after the individual who was infected left.
Based on published reports, it says that the factors that increase the risk include “Enclosed spaces with inadequate ventilation or air handling within which the concentration of exhaled respiratory fluids, especially very fine droplets and aerosol particles, can build-up in the air space.”
Noting longstanding discussions pertaining to aerosols and their role in infections, Anthony said more and more of the reputable international agencies that deal with epidemics have concluded that aerosols play a significant role in transmission, especially in indoor environments. He posited that this evidence must be taken into consideration and the general public must be warned that it is necessary to keep masks on in indoor environments. “If you are working in an indoor environment then it’s necessary for you to keep your mask on all the time because you don’t know who you’re interfacing with and you don’t know what is circulating in that indoor environment’s air,” Anthony cautioned.
