According to an MIT researcher, the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 could be transmitted by postillions well beyond the recommended safety distances.
It is now well established that SARS-CoV-2 can be spread by the projection of respiratory droplets, and therefore by close contact. In order to limit the risks of contracting the pathogen or transmitting it, we are now all required to maintain a minimum safe distance from others. This varies between one and two meters depending on the country. But is it enough to protect yourself?
No, according to Lydia Bourouiba. This professor at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), who has been studying the dynamics of exhalation for years (sneezing or coughing, in particular), has in fact discovered that certain droplets can, depending on the violence of the projection, move in a cloud. up to 8.2 meters .
If we start from this principle, then the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 could actually be transmitted by postilions well beyond the current safety distances recommended.
Dr. Paul Pottinger, Professor of Infectious Diseases at Washington University School of Medicine (USA), believes that the real question is not how far pathogens can travel, "but how far can they travel before they are no longer a threat “, he said.
The researcher recalls that "the smaller the particles, the lower the risk of them infecting a person who breathes them in ". Biggest threat with coronavirus, he says, are large droplets . “But the large droplets expelled usually fall less than two meters. This is why the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a safety distance of about two meters “.
But it is precisely these large droplets that Lydia Bourouiba is referring to here. In a paper published last week, the researcher indeed details that a "gas cloud" can actually carry droplets of "any size" when emitted by a coughing or sneezing person.
This work has been carried out on other strains of coronavirus but, as a precautionary principle, Lydia Bourouiba stresses that these results should lead to the implementation of more "suspicious" policies. ". This research, she explains, particularly concerns front-line health professionals who face a "potentially underestimated exposure range when treating patients.
The World Health Organization (WHO), meanwhile, said it was carefully monitoring emerging evidence on this critical topic, and would update its recommendations "as more information becomes available “.
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