TUESDAY, Oct. 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- The tiny droplets that linger in the air after people talk, cough or sneeze aren't very efficient at spreading the new coronavirus, new research suggests.
Using laser technology, researchers measured the path of droplets released when people spoke or coughed.
If someone enters a room a few minutes after a person with mild COVID-19 symptoms has coughed in that area, the odds of infection are "rather low," the Dutch researchers noted. It is even lower if that person was only talking.
That doesn't mean these droplets are risk-free -- just that they contain less virus than the larger droplets produced when someone speaks, coughs or sneezes directly on us, according to researcher Daniel Bonn, a physicist at the University of Amsterdam's Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute.
"Based on the current insights, we actually see that aerosol-wise, it's relatively safe to go into well-ventilated modern buildings, such as airports, train stations, modern offices, etc.," Bonn said in a news release from the American Institute of Physics.
"Modern ventilation makes the aerosol infection risk not very large. The amount of virus in the small droplets is relatively small, meaning that it becomes dangerous if you're in a badly ventilated room for a relatively long time with an infected person or after an infected person has coughed there," he added.
These findings support the effectiveness of wearing masks, social distancing and other measures that target the spread of larger droplets, the researcher said.
"They are so large that they fall onto the ground roughly within a meter from your mouth," Bonn said. "If you want to minimize the risk of infection, you need to not only keep the 6 feet, or 1.5 meters, but also make sure the room you are in is well ventilated. And wash your hands."
The study was published online Oct. 27 in the journal Physics of Fluids.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the new coronavirus.
SOURCE: American Institute of Physics, news release, Oct. 27, 2020
Could High Pollen Levels Trigger Pelvic Pain?
Allergists Offer Reassurance on COVID Vaccines' Safety
Wildfire Smoke Poses Special Threat to People With Asthma
What to Know If You're Headed to College With Asthma or Allergies
Study Probes Links in Asthma, Food Sensitivity and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Play It Safe With Allergies, Asthma During Pandemic School Year
As Climate Change Intensifies Storms, Seniors' Health Could Suffer: Study
ユニãƒãƒ¼ã‚µãƒ«ã‚¤ãƒ³ãƒ•ルエンザワクãƒãƒ³ã®é–‹ç™ºçжæ³ã¯ï¼Ÿ
Ample Vitamins May Shield You From Colds
What's Killing Detainees at U.S. ICE Facilities?
Vaccines Saved 37 Million Lives, Mostly Children, Over Past Two Decades
Most Workers Report for Duty With Flu-Like Symptoms, Global Survey Shows