Airborne transmissions could be the next new battle

The latest report in The Lancet, one of the most well-known international medical journals, on how Covid-19 spreads, is a real shocker. It challenges many of the measures countries are taking to stop the spread of infections. Now it's not just people sneezing or coughing without masks and thus throwing virus-carrying droplets on surfaces that should worry us, but whether someone carrying the virus including the asymptomatic, has been exhaling, speaking, singing or shouting in a closed space that you happen to walk into. The Lancet report by six experts, says that there is ample evidence to suggest that the SARS Cov 2 is an airborne pathogen that could stay infectious in the atmosphere as aerosols for up to three hours since emission from a carrier. The report's writers have said that 33 percent to 59 percent of all coronavirus cases can be attributed to the asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic transmission without the infected person coughing or sneezing (Business Today, India, April 23).