New Delhi: Unobstructed cough could travel over two metres in less than three seconds, and keep going, according to new a study.
First reported by ‘South China Morning Post’, the study was led by Canada’s Western University. The study was done in the 2017-18 flu season – well before the COVID-19 outbreak. “Even when you’re 2.5mt away, airflow in cough can move at 200mm a second,” said Western University’s Prof Eric Savory. “The very fine droplets are going to remain suspended for a long time, even after four seconds.”
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the virus is transmitted through respiratory droplets and contact routes.
Coronavirus droplets could travel up to 27ft as a sneeze results in a turbulent gas cloud that could contain SARS-CoV-2 droplets. In a paper published in ‘Journal of American Medical Association’, MIT’s Prof Lydia Bourouibasuggested revised social distancing of 2mt. Locally moist and warm atmosphere within the turbulent gas cloud allows droplets to evade evaporation for a longer time.
“A droplet’s lifetime could be extended by a factor of upto 1000, from a fraction of a second to minutes.”
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’Dr Anthony Fauciurged caution with this study during a White House briefing. “This could really be terribly misleading,” he said, adding that it would apply only to people with extremely strong sneezes.
An earlier research revealed coronavirus RNA was present even after 17 days on a Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.
In India, the Health Ministry has asked citizens to ensure physical distancing of minimum one metre.
IANS