The virus is NOT airborne - WHO

[TheReelSlimShady]

So the WHO have officially stated that the virus is NOT airborne as has been stated many times :

twitter.com/WHO/status/1243972193169616898

Their recommendation is to keep 1 metre apart , not 2 metres as many countries have been using (including in the UK).

Does this change anything? I guess it may calm the anxiety of picking up the virus when out and about doing exercise if someone gets a bit too close, or in the supermarket.

does this mean that men don't wash their hands as much as women?

Not necessarily. There are lots of reasons why it might affect men more than women.

It may not be strictly airborne but can linger in the air for up to 3 hours according to studies. Is that not why they say it can pass on if you are in close contact for 15 minutes or longer

I read (it was in an official study but sorry have forgotten exact source) that when they looked for virus/droplets in the air in the rooms of patients in Wuhan they didn't find it, but they did find it in the air of the toilets used by patients. This is thought to be because the virus is present in faeces and when the toilet is flushed this is aerosolised and can therefore remain in the air for longer. So keep the lid down when you flush! Everyone should do this anyway but I know some people don't.

Men are more likely to smoke, apparently, which is one reason they are getting it more. Especially in China and Italy.

Can someone please explain to me what "airborne" actually means? because I thought that if a sneeze lands on me then it is airborne because that sneeze travelled to me through the air? Or is it the actual liquid of the sneeze that is infectious?

The WHO has got an awful lot wrong with this virus.

Literally everyone is casting in the dark here. We’ve never seen anything like this before.

Their still in a much better position to comment than the armchair ‘scientists’ (lol) on here.

I don’t believe it is aerosolised like measles. I do believe people touch things and that people touch their faces, particularly eyes/nose/mouth much more than they think they do.

When I say the air of the toilets I mean air in the rooms where toilets were used.

Sure Jan

www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-transmission-of-virus-causing-covid-19-implications-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations this explains more

Can someone please explain to me what "airborne" actually means? because I thought that if a sneeze lands on me then it is airborne because that sneeze travelled to me through the air? Or is it the actual liquid of the sneeze that is infectious?

The point is that you won't pick it up walking through the same air that someone with the virus has been breathing, as the droplets will be too heavy to keep in the air. So you need to be really close to them to actual pick it up in the air.

If they sneeze on you, then yes you could catch it because you become the surface it lands on.

I think transmission via the air in the form of coughs and sneezes is not airborne. Airborne means the infectious droplets can remain suspended in the air for long periods of time. Hopefully someone will know more.

I agree with 2m as the distance to stay clear of people though because it's actually quite common for people to unintentionally spit when talking and it can hit you in the face, so the more space you give people the better, especially if talking to them.

I do believe people touch things and that people touch their faces, particularly eyes/nose/mouth much more than they think they do

Watch everyone on a Zoom video-conference. EVERYONE touches their face!

When it eventually did meet the clear criteria that they’d set out. hmm

Your point?

No...as I wrote:

"they said it wasn't a pandemic (when it met their own criteria), then they said they don't use the word pandemic anymore, so won't ever be calling it a pandemic...then eventually declared it a pandemic?"

When it met their own criteria. Seeded and endemic in countries in 2 (3, counting Iran) different parts of the globe. Then upon being pestered as to why they weren't now calling it a pandemic, they turned around and said "oh we've just decided we won't be using that word anymore". Total debacle.

This is a brand new virus and a brand new situation that the world is having to deal with.

Science changes it’s mind with the evidence.

They declared it a pandemic when it became one. They indicated human-to-human transmission when that became clear, based on the evidence.

If tomorrow they declare that “sorry, it IS airbourne and not surface-to-fingers” then that’s because the evidence has changed.

That’s how science works & always has. Only the most foolish of people see this as some kind of failing.

eportal.mountsinai.ca/Microbiology/faq/transmission.shtml#five

@defthand

While I have no reason to not believe what they are saying, I agree with you that WHO has not acted like an unbiased source of information throughout this whole crisis. We know it’s a political organisation but serious questions will need to be asked about the organisation and it’s dilly dallying around China.

I don't think the science is particularly clear cut. Here's an article I read today saying 2m is insufficient.

www.independent.ie/world-news/coronavirus/two-metres-not-enough-when-social-distancing-39083182.html

There's another thread about it being airborne or not - also makes for interesting reading...... from a few days back - would be interesting to compare with this one.....

Re men getting it.

They say it goes in through mucus membranes. So are the penis/testicles a mucus membrane in the same way as the nostrils? So maybe men holding to pee (..etc. And whatever else..!?!) with unwashed hands...?

@CrapTVAddict well said.

I believe WHO also tweeted 14/01/20 (7 days before Hubei locked down) that "Preliminary investigations conducted by Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of human-to-human transmission of the novel #coronavirus (2019-nCOV) identified in #Wuhan, #China"

But we all have access to the inter webs and to do our own research, wear masks or not as we still have 'free will'.

Absolutely no need for sniping.

There was research published recently that actually showed that the virus can spread/transmitted from up to 4.5 meters away. There are many variables that affect the trajectory. Air conditions, humidity, surfaces etc.

See info photo & google for more details if interested.

@TheReelSlimShady doesn't change anything.... 2m is good to avoid unexpected sneezes and coughs and if you say 2m the reality is ppl will stay 1-1.5m if you say 1m it'll be 0.5-1m between folk

Why are they saying it is "mainly" spread through droplets? What other methods of transmission have been proven?