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Outgoing WHO Chief Scientist Expresses Regret Over Errors Made in the Debate Over Airborne Transmission of COVID-19

December 15, 2022

The aerosol community has not forgotten how, early in the pandemic, their urgent calls for WHO, CDC, and other agencies to acknowledge the possibility that COVID-19 could be spread through the air - and the tremendous opposition against those calls. The reflections of the outgoing WHO chief scientist only offer further proof that how we view respiratory disease transmission has been fundamentally and permanently changed.

Univ. of Michigan study finds COVID was transmitted far more readily in air than from contaminated surfaces on campus

June 24, 2022

More evidence that mitigating airborne pathogens and maintaining healthful air is essential: A Univ. of Michigan study finds that COVID transmission via air was ~1000 times more likely than via contaminated surfaces on campus: https://news.umich.edu/at-u-m-risk-from-surface-contamination-of-covid-19-was-much-lower-than-air-transmission/

National Academies report calls for rethinking who has a right to respiratory protection - and how

June 24, 2022

Important report from a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committee recommending future frameworks for expanding the availability of respiratory protection (historically, N95 masks but potentially newer approaches such as Taza Aya’s in the future) that go beyond the current limited list of professions to all workers potentially exposed to respiratory hazards (including airborne pathogens) and the public at large, including children.

A mandate for rethinking how we view - and what we demand of - personal respiratory protection!

Covid loses 90% of ability to infect within 20 minutes in air – study

Herek Clack / January 20, 2022

Coronavirus loses 90% of its ability to infect us within 20 minutes of becoming airborne – with most of the loss occurring within the first five minutes, the world’s first simulations of how the virus survives in exhaled air suggest.

The findings re-emphasize the importance of short-range Covid transmission, with physical distancing and mask-wearing likely to be the most effective means of preventing infection. Ventilation, though still worthwhile, is likely to have a lesser impact.

“People have been focused on poorly ventilated spaces and thinking about airborne transmission over meters or across a room. I’m not saying that doesn’t happen, but I think still the greatest risk of exposure is when you’re close to someone,” said Prof