The World Health Organization is considering “airborne precautions” for medical staff after a new study showed the coronavirus can survive in the air in some settings.
The virus is transmitted through droplets, or little bits of liquid, mostly through sneezing or coughing, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, told reporters during a virtual news conference on Monday. “When you do an aerosol-generating procedure like in a medical care facility, you have the possibility to what we call aerosolize these particles, which means they can stay in the air a little bit longer.”
She added: “It’s very important that health-care workers take additional precautions when they’re working on patients and doing those procedures.”
World health officials say the respiratory disease spreads through human-to-human contact, droplets carried through sneezing and coughing as well as germs left on inanimate objects. The coronavirus can go airborne, staying suspended in the air depending on factors such as heat and humidity, they said.
Kerkhove said health officials are aware of several studies in a number of countries looking at the different environmental conditions that COVID-19 can persist. Scientists are specifically looking at how humidity, temperature and ultraviolet lighting affects the disease as well as how long it lives on different surfaces, including steel, she said.
Health officials use the information to make sure WHO’s guidance is appropriate, and “so far ... we are confident that the guidance that we have is appropriate,” she added. Health officials recommend medical staff wear so-called N95 masks because they filter out about 95% of all liquid or airborne particles.
“In health-care facilities, we make sure health-care workers use standard droplet precautions with the exception ... that they’re doing an aerosol-generating procedure,” she said.
WATCH NOWVIDEO01:01Wondering if insurance will cover the coronavirus - here is what you need to know
Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Congress last month that the agency was aggressively evaluating how long COVID-19 can survive, particularly on surfaces.
“On copper and steel, it’s pretty typical, it’s pretty much about two hours,” Redfield said at a House hearing. “But I will say on other surfaces — cardboard or plastic — it’s longer, and so we are looking at this.”
Redfield added infections contracted from surfaces rather than through the air could have contributed to the outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
Separately, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday that there’s been a rapid escalation of COVID-19 cases over the past week, adding, “we have not seen an urgent enough escalation in testing, isolation and contact tracing, which is the backbone of the response.”
“We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test. Test every suspected case, if they test positive, isolate them and find out who they have been in contact with two days before they developed symptoms and test those people, too,” Tedros said.
Latest Stories
-
We have a stable national grid; outages due to localised faults – ECG
44 mins -
Easter celebration: Ghana AIDS Commission to distribute free condoms in Kwahu
59 mins -
Zeepay secures additional $3m from Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund
1 hour -
Over 70% of power outages were due to planned maintenance works – ECG to PURC
1 hour -
Access Bank partners Horseman Shoes to boost local shoe manufacturing industry
1 hour -
Election 2024: Don’t vote for candidates making empty promises – CDD to Ghanaians
1 hour -
IGP shares Easter safety tips on Adom FM’s ‘Ofie Kwanso’
2 hours -
Ebo Whyte offers fully-funded trip as he unveils new play ‘Dubai or No Sex’
2 hours -
Ancient culture of Anlo Kingdom: Exploring “Torkor Atorlia,” the fifth landing stage’s old ways of punishment
2 hours -
Leaders from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Botswana, Cameroon and Sierra Leone to lead discussions at Africa Finance Corporation’s (AFC) 4th Country & Stakeholder Symposium
3 hours -
Network International Delivers Strong 2023 Revenue growth at 15% y/y and free cashflow growth of 16% y/y
3 hours -
President Akufo-Addo extends Easter Greetings to Ghanaians, urges safe drive
3 hours -
Government pushes for use of more local materials in housing, other infrastructure projects
4 hours -
Dr Bawumia extends Easter greetings to Christians
4 hours -
CAF Confederation Cup: ‘Ghanaians should expect victory against Stade Malien’ – Dreams FC forward Ishmael Dede
4 hours