Is the Coronavirus airborne?

The first cases of coronavirus COVID-19 were reported in China in December 2019. Since then, over 187 countries and territories throughout the world have reported positive cases. As the coronavirus pandemic continues throughout the world there are many questions being raised, some of the most popular of which are related to the transmission of the virus such as, is the coronavirus airborne? At Nomad Travel, we wrote this blog alongside our medical experts to provide you with the answer to this particular question. Read on to find out…

COVID-19 Transmission – Is the Coronavirus airborne?

According to the WHO, the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted by respiratory droplets and contact routes or by airborne transmission.

These are different due to the sizes of the particles involved and following an analysis of over 75,000 COVID-19 cases in China, airborne transmission was not reported. The primary route of infection is regarded to be droplets and contact with infected surfaces.

One of the more common methods of reducing transmission of COVID-19 has been through social distancing. The reason behind this is because, as mentioned previously, the coronavirus is spread primarily from person to person through droplets from the nose or mouth. These droplets are expelled with the virus when the carrier coughs, sneezes or speaks. These droplets can be of differing sizes. The larger ones are heavier and do not travel far, quickly sinking to the ground. The smaller droplets can travel further before dropping to the ground and this is why maintaining a 2 metre distance is a vital part of the social distancing guidelines.

The World Health Organization, along with governments all over the world, has stressed the importance of keeping good hand hygiene to protect against Coronavirus. This is because, depending on the surface type, when droplets land on the surface they can remain active for several hours. It is for this reason that the recommendation to sanitize or regularly wash hands with warm soapy water is so important, as it reduces the risk of becoming infected by this method.

Recently WHO has produced guidance that everyone should wear a face mask in public areas. In the UK this has been added to the guidelines as face coverings, allowing for home made masks with at least 3 layers to be used and surgical masks reserved for clinical use.

For more information on the coronavirus and how it is transmitted please visit New England Journal of Medicine and MIT News.

Find out more about our Coronavirus self-test kits here.