New study says air knocks down COVID-19 infection rate by 90 percent | TheHill - The Hill

New study says air knocks down COVID-19 infection rate by 90 percent | TheHill - The Hill

New research from the U.K. is challenging perceptions of how the coronavirus travels and infects people, with researchers saying COVID-19's infectivity rate begins dropping minutes after virus is released into the air. 

In a study uploaded to a preprint server this week, but is yet to be peer-reviewed, researchers in the U.K. found that the airborne infectivity rate of COVID-19 declines over the first 20 minutes after it's been released into the air. The research emphasizes that physical distancing and wearing masks are the strongest tools to prevent a COVID-19 infection. 


Researchers studied the infectivity rate of COVID-19 over the course of 20 minutes and found a decrease almost immediately, with the virus losing infectivity by 50 to 60 percent within seconds of being released into the air and by the first two minutes the infectivity dropped further by 90 percent. After 10 minutes, only 10 percent of the virus remained infectious.  


“It means that if I’m meeting friends for lunch in a pub today, the primary [risk] is likely to be me transmitting it to my friends, or my friends transmitting it to me, rather than it being transmitted from someone on the other side of the room,” said Jonathan Reid, a professor at the University of Bristol and the study’s lead author, to The Guardian.  


Our country is in a historic fight against the coronavirus. Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news. 


The loss of infectivity of COVID-19 has to do with the elevation in pH in v ..

Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.