Over 200 scientists advise WHO to review COVID-19 recommendations

GENEVA: More than 200 scientists have advised the World Health Organisation to review its recommendations after evidence suggests that the coronavirus present in smaller air-borne particles can infect people.

The WHO said that the coronavirus disease spreads primarily from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth, which are expelled when a person with COVID-19 coughs, sneezes, or speaks.

In an open letter by at least 239 scientists in 32 countries to the WHO outlined the evidence showing smaller particles can infect people. Whether carried by large droplets that zoom through the air after a sneeze, or by much smaller exhaled droplets that may glide the length of a room, the coronavirus is borne through the air and can infect people when inhaled, the scientists stated.

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However, the WHO said the evidence for the virus being airborne was not convincing. Dr. Benedetta Allegranzi, the WHO’s technical lead of infection prevention and control said, “Especially in the last couple of months, we have been stating several times that we consider airborne transmission as possible but certainly not supported by solid or even clear evidence.”  

WHO urged COVID-19 affected countries to wake up to the realities on the ground instead of bickering, and to take control. The Americas are the hardest-hit region, with most cases and deaths registered in the United States, and with numbers skyrocketing in several countries in Latin America.