WHO: Virus may be spread in air

Crowded, poorly ventilated indoor spaces potentially risky

People wear masks while exercising at a gym in Los Angeles in this Friday, June 26, 2020, file photo. On Thursday, July 9, 2020, the World Health Organization acknowledged the possibility that covid-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions.
People wear masks while exercising at a gym in Los Angeles in this Friday, June 26, 2020, file photo. On Thursday, July 9, 2020, the World Health Organization acknowledged the possibility that covid-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions.

LONDON -- The World Health Organization is acknowledging the possibility that covid-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions -- after more than 200 scientists urged the agency to do so.

In an open letter published this week in a journal, two scientists from Australia and the U.S. wrote that studies have shown "beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air."

The researchers, along with more than 200 others, appealed for national and international authorities, including WHO, to adopt more stringent protective measures.

WHO has long dismissed the possibility that the coronavirus is spread in the air except for certain risky medical procedures, such as when patients are first put on breathing machines.

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In a change to its previous thinking, WHO noted on Thursday that studies evaluating covid-19 outbreaks in restaurants, choir practices and fitness classes suggested the virus might have been spread in the air.

Airborne spread "particularly in specific indoor locations, such as crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces over a prolonged period of time with infected persons cannot be ruled out," WHO said.

Still, officials also pointed out that other modes of transmission -- like contaminated surfaces or close contacts between people in such indoor environments -- might also have explained the disease's spread.

WHO's stance also recognized the importance of people spreading covid-19 without symptoms, a phenomenon the organization has long downplayed.

WHO has repeatedly said such transmission is "rare" despite a growing consensus among scientists globally that asymptomatic spread likely accounts for a significant amount of transmission. The agency said that most spread is via droplets from infected people who cough or sneeze, but added that people without symptoms are also capable of transmitting the disease.

"The extent of truly asymptomatic infection in the community remains unknown," WHO said.

NEW PANEL FORMED

Separately, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday that former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark will head a new panel tasked with giving "an honest assessment" of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Tedros, whose agency is facing a U.S. pullout following Trump administration complaints about its early handling of the virus emergency, announced the appointments to the newly created Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.

"I cannot imagine two more strong-minded, independent leaders to help guide us through this critical learning process to help us understand what happened -- an honest assessment -- and to help us understand also what we should do to prevent such a tragedy in the future," Tedros said.

The WHO chief reiterated his calls for global unity and decried a general lack of leadership, but he made no reference to the Trump administration giving formal 1-year notice this week of its intent to withdraw the United States from the U.N. health agency.

The United States is the WHO's biggest donor, contributing $400 million to $500 million annually in recent years.

"My friends, make no mistake: The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself. Rather, it's the lack of leadership and solidarity at the global and national levels," Tedros said at a weekly meeting of member states, which unusually was made public for the announcement of the panel appointments.

He said he would convene a special meeting of the WHO's executive board in September, before hosting the assembly of its 194 member states in November. The World Health Assembly, usually held in May, was cut short and held online this year due to the pandemic.

"We must be readying ourselves for future global outbreaks and the many other challenges of our time, such as anti-microbial resistance, inequality and the climate crisis," Tedros said. "Covid-19 has taken so much from us. But it's also giving us an opportunity to break with the past -- and build back better."

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