WHO Open to Evidence Pointing to Airborne Transmission

FABRICE COFFRINI / POOL / AFP

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus leaves a press conference organised by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) amid the COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the novel coronavirus at WHO headquarters in Geneva on July 3, 2020.

GENEVA, WEDNESDAY – The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced new evidence that Covid-19 might be transmitted via the airborne route. Scientists have found evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease Covid-19 could travel in the air up to 2 meters. The new findings are to be published in the near future.

"Over the weekend, there were more than 400,000 cases across the globe. The outbreak is accelerating and we have clearly not reached the peak of the pandemic," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday (8/7/2020). He added that the Covid-19 virus “has taken the world hostage”.

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On Monday, a group of 239 scientists from a number of countries stated in an open letter that aerosol particles under 5 micrometers in diameter containing the SARS-CoV-2 virus from exhaled droplets could remain suspended in the air for several hours and travel up to dozens of meters.

"We must be open to this evidence and understand its implications regarding the mode of transmission and the actions that need to be taken to prevent it," said Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO\'s head of infection control.

The outbreak is accelerating and we have clearly not reached the peak of the pandemic

"The possibility of airborne public settings, especially in very specific conditions –crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings – cannot be ruled out,” she said on Tuesday (7/7) in Geneva, Switzerland. “However, the evidence needs to be gathered and interpreted and we continue to support this.”

WHO Health Emergencies Program technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove said that the group was “producing a scientific brief on summarizing where we are” that would be published “in the coming days.

"A comprehensive package of interventions is required to stop transmissions," she added.

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Kompas

Scientists work at the serology laboratory of San Carlos Hospital in Madrid, Spain, June 16, 2020.

Modify protocols

Responding to the latest information, Indonesian Society of Respirology (PDPI) chairman Agus Dwi Susanto said that a quick response to the WHO statement was necessary by adjusting the preventive measures accordingly.

"Professional organizations are still discussing [the matter] because the implications could be wide. If the possibility of airborne transmission is proven, the health protocol needs to be modified and must implemented more rigorously," he said.

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Deputy head Herawati Supolo Sudoyo of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology said that all parties must be prepared to modify the treatment protocols if the WHO acknowledged that Covid-19 could be transmitted via the airborne route.

"In the end, this would be like avian flu, which is also airborne, although it is still through droplets and aerosols. What makes it different from [bird flu] is that deaths from Covid-19 is higher," she said.

The risk of airborne Covid-19 transmission could be higher for health workers and laboratory personnel who analyzed specimens. The Eijkman Institute has applied preventive measures as a precaution while examining SARS-CoV-2 specimens. "Our SOP [standard operational procedures] assumes that the virus is transmitted by air. Therefore, specimen analyses are carried out in the BSL-3 isolation room," she said, referring to the second highest biological safety level for contagion.

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Previously, the WHO had insisted that Covid-19 was transmitted only by nasopharyngeal droplets that were released when coughing or sneezing. Because the droplets did not remain suspended in the air and would eventually fall to contaminate surfaces, hand washing was recommended as the primary preventive measure.

However, 239 scientists from 32 countries had opposed this conclusion, presenting strong evidence indicating that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was also airborne and could be spread through aerosol particles. The virus could be emitted when people talked or breathed, and remain suspended in the air for several hours.

The scientists expressed their views in an open letter to the WHO that was published on Monday (6/7) in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal.

In a separate article on a study of viruses conducted before the Covid-19 pandemic "showed without a doubt" that droplets released by a sick person could become suspended in the air and pose a risk of exposure to anyone within 1 to 2 meters.

More recent research has also shown that the same applies to SARS-CoV-2. In several reported cases, people have become sick after being in the same room with an infected person, even though they did not have direct or prolonged contact. Citing this data, the scientists urged the WHO to update its guidelines.

(AP/AFP/REUTERS).