For the past six months, Americans have been bombarded with officials’ implorings to wash their hands, stay six feet apart, and wear a mask. And in turn, the ‘three w’s’ have certainly helped to curb the rise of COVID-19 in some areas. But as the coronavirus is new (although it seems like it’s been here forever), scientists are continuing to learn new things about it and its transmission. The latest coronavirus topic? How ventilation prevents the spread of COVID-19 indoors.
The research to this effect is definitely sound. In July, 239 scientists from 32 countries wrote an open letter to the WHO showing evidence that tiny virus droplets people expel when they cough or sneeze can hang in still air for hours, making crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation risky for the spread of COVID-19.