Read more about Scientists agree Covid is airborne, want overhaul of ventilation systems on Business Standard. Researchers demand universal recognition that infections can be prevented by improving such systems.
WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - A quiet revolution has permeated global health circles. The authorities have come to accept what many researchers have argued for over a year: The coronavirus can spread through the air.
That new acceptance, by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, comes with concrete implications: Scientists are calling for ventilation systems to be overhauled like public water supplies were in the 1800s after fetid pipes were found to harbour cholera.
Cleaner indoor air will not just fight the pandemic, it will minimise the risk of catching flu and other respiratory infections that cost the US more than US$50 billion (S$66.63 billion) a year, researchers said in a study in the journal Science on Friday (May 14).
Covid Is Airborne, Scientists Say Now Authorities Think So, Too bnnbloomberg.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bnnbloomberg.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(May 17): A quiet revolution has permeated global health circles. Authorities have come to accept what many researchers have argued for over a year: The coronavirus can spread through the air.
That new acceptance, by the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, comes with concrete implications: Scientists are calling for ventilation systems to be overhauled like public water supplies were in the 1800s after fetid pipes were found to harbor cholera.
Cleaner indoor air won’t just fight the pandemic, it will minimize the risk of catching flu and other respiratory infections that cost the US more than US$50 billion a year, researchers said in a study in the journal Science on Friday. Avoiding these germs and their associated sickness and productivity losses would, therefore, offset the cost of upgrading ventilation and filtration in buildings.
âIt will make us sick but wonât put us into hospital ⦠some people may die, but it will be way smaller than with the flu.
âWeâre forgetting the fact that weâve learnt how to live with lots of viruses and challenges over the years and [Australia] has to learn how to live with this.â
Hrdlicka reportedly told the forum that it was a mistake to believe that Australia could keep the virus out âforeverâ, and said that remaining isolated from the rest of the world posed both a health and economic risk to the country.
âWeâre all going to be sicker than we ever have been in the past because weâre not exposed to the viruses and challenges that the rest of the world is dealing with so we need to get the borders open for our health and the economy,â she said.