WHO issues new guidelines on the airborne transmission of coronavirus

NewsBharati    10-Jul-2020 16:53:14 PM
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Geneva, July 10: After the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged that there's a possibility of coronavirus being spread in the air under certain conditions, it issued new guidelines for the airborne transmission of COVID-19. WHO also emphasized that more evidence in terms of research was required in that direction.
 
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WHO said that the airborne spread of the highly contagious infection can occur in “health care settings where specific medical procedures generate very small droplets – aerosols”. It, however, emphasized that more evidence in terms of research is “urgently needed to investigate such instances and assess their significance for transmission of COVID-19”.
 
 
The UN agency said that the coronavirus that causes “COVID-19 spreads through contact with contaminated surfaces or close contact with infected people who spread the virus through saliva, respiratory secretions or droplets released when an infected person coughs, sneezes, speaks or sings”. It also asserted that the virus may be spread by people who do not have symptoms: “Infected people can transmit the virus both when they have symptoms and when they don’t have symptoms,” the agency said.
 
This comes after more than 200 scientists urged the agency to do so. In an open letter published this week in a journal, two scientists from Australia and the US wrote that studies have shown “beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, The letter was published on Monday in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal. In the letter, the scientists had also urged WHO to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease passes between people, in light of the newly emerging evidence.
 
To prevent transmission, WHO recommends a comprehensive set of measures including:
 
1) Identify suspect cases as quickly as possible, test, and isolate all cases (infected people) inappropriate facilities
 
2) Identify and quarantine all close contacts of infected people and test those who develop symptoms so that they can be isolated if they are infected and require care;
 
3) Use fabric masks in specific situations, for example, in public places where there is community transmission and where other prevention measures, such as physical distancing, are not possible;
 
4) Use of contact and droplet precautions by health workers caring for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients, and use of airborne precautions when aerosol-generating procedures are performed;
 
5)Continuous use of a medical mask by health workers and caregivers working in all clinical areas, during all routine activities throughout the entire shift;
 
6) At all times, practice frequent hand hygiene, physical distancing from others when possible, and respiratory etiquette; avoid crowded places, close-contact settings and confined and enclosed spaces with poor ventilation; wear fabric masks when in closed, overcrowded spaces to protect others; and ensure good environmental ventilation in all closed settings and appropriate environmental cleaning and disinfection.
 
WHO further stressed on the urgent requirement to conduct further research on the airborne transmission of COVID-19.“Many unanswered questions about transmission of SARS-CoV-2 remain, and researchers seeking to answer those questions are ongoing and are encouraged,” it said.