- Researchers have discovered that particles of the novel coronavirus can bind to air pollution, which could allow the virus to travel over more significant distances.
- The work is still preliminary, and the scientists have yet to prove whether the virus would still be able to infect humans after traveling on pollutants.
- The study was performed in the northern Italian province that’s been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak. The region is also one of the most polluted in Europe.
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More and more research seems to indicate that the novel coronavirus can travel well beyond the 3-6 feet that the WHO and CDC recommend as a safe distance. Contact tracing in China showed that a person infected members of three families sitting more than three feet from each other in a restaurant, as virus-laden droplets and micro-droplets were carried by the air conditioning system to other tables.
A study that analyzed how the virus can travel indoors inside a hospital found viral particles 13 feet from a patient, and it was due to the airflow in the area where COVID-19 patients were being treated. Other studies have looked at how droplets traveled in the air after a sneeze and a cough and theorized that micro-droplets could linger in the air for a more extended period, and possibly infect other people. All these studies seem to prove that the use of a mask is mandatory during the health crisis, even if it’s an improvised solution.
But what if the virus could travel for over much greater distances than we previously imagined? Researchers are studying the hypothesis after having discovered that the virus can bind to pollution particles.
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Researchers want to know if pollution helps coronavirus spread farther originally appeared on BGR.com on Mon, 27 Apr 2020 at 20:38:27 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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