I'm not a scientist or medical professional, but from my lay understanding it is more likely that Covid is spread by aerosols, which means that it hangs in the air, and the longer an infected person sits in a room, the more that room will be filled with Covid since they exhale more and more into the room the longer they sit there.
I haven't kept up on the debate too much and I wasn't even aware the CDC had dropped the droplet theory, but the droplet theory as I understand it was Covid traveled in exhaled water droplets which could be large or small. So of course a symptomatic person, who is coughing, will spread Covid more than an uninfected person who is not coughing and therefore exhaling smaller and less water droplets. The water droplets can hang suspended in the air for a couple hours, the smaller they are the longer they hang in the air. However they are not able to travel super far, and they will ultimately fall down to earth at some point. What this would mean is that touching infected surfaces could spread covid, as the droplets fall back to earth onto a door handle for instance, someone touches the door handle and then touches their face or something, it spreads to them. This theory is why you see some people wearing those latex gloves. My mom and I still wipe down our groceries since that was an early precaution and we can't really get out of the habit.
Now I guess the CDC accepts the aerosol theory, however many scientists have been pushing this theory as the correct one since at least like late March 2020 - the Skagit Valley Choir case was a big case study I've seen referenced. I don't really know the specifics of the aerosol theory since as I say I'm not a scientist or anything, but what it would suggest is that many of the precautions we have taken thus far - gloves, those clear barricades in school - are useless. Surfaces shouldn't be completely ruled out for possible spreading, but it is not the main way that the virus spreads. And those clear barricades are useless since air can just go around them. If a room fills up enough with infected air they offer no protection. Masks are of course still important, especially N95 or KN95 or stronger masks. This theory would also suggest that another important precaution would be improving indoor ventilation - which I don't think most places are concerned about. In the school I work at we open the windows and leave the doors to the hall open, but that's really it.
I think the reason many scientists favor this theory over others is because the spread in many cases studies such as the Skagit Valley one I mentioned is more like what you would see if it did spread by aerosols and the indoor air itself was infected, whereas if it was spread by droplets you'd see the people closer to patient zero more likely to be infected, and those farther away unaffected. That's not what people are seeing. I believe there was also a Chinese bus study that suggested it spread by aerosols?
Can you elaborate on the droplet theory bit? I was unaware that it has been supplanted by something else
But I did always find that whole "neck gaiters spread the virus more" thing to be bullshit
I'm not a scientist or medical professional, but from my lay understanding it is more likely that Covid is spread by aerosols, which means that it hangs in the air, and the longer an infected person sits in a room, the more that room will be filled with Covid since they exhale more and more into the room the longer they sit there.
I haven't kept up on the debate too much and I wasn't even aware the CDC had dropped the droplet theory, but the droplet theory as I understand it was Covid traveled in exhaled water droplets which could be large or small. So of course a symptomatic person, who is coughing, will spread Covid more than an uninfected person who is not coughing and therefore exhaling smaller and less water droplets. The water droplets can hang suspended in the air for a couple hours, the smaller they are the longer they hang in the air. However they are not able to travel super far, and they will ultimately fall down to earth at some point. What this would mean is that touching infected surfaces could spread covid, as the droplets fall back to earth onto a door handle for instance, someone touches the door handle and then touches their face or something, it spreads to them. This theory is why you see some people wearing those latex gloves. My mom and I still wipe down our groceries since that was an early precaution and we can't really get out of the habit.
Now I guess the CDC accepts the aerosol theory, however many scientists have been pushing this theory as the correct one since at least like late March 2020 - the Skagit Valley Choir case was a big case study I've seen referenced. I don't really know the specifics of the aerosol theory since as I say I'm not a scientist or anything, but what it would suggest is that many of the precautions we have taken thus far - gloves, those clear barricades in school - are useless. Surfaces shouldn't be completely ruled out for possible spreading, but it is not the main way that the virus spreads. And those clear barricades are useless since air can just go around them. If a room fills up enough with infected air they offer no protection. Masks are of course still important, especially N95 or KN95 or stronger masks. This theory would also suggest that another important precaution would be improving indoor ventilation - which I don't think most places are concerned about. In the school I work at we open the windows and leave the doors to the hall open, but that's really it.
I think the reason many scientists favor this theory over others is because the spread in many cases studies such as the Skagit Valley one I mentioned is more like what you would see if it did spread by aerosols and the indoor air itself was infected, whereas if it was spread by droplets you'd see the people closer to patient zero more likely to be infected, and those farther away unaffected. That's not what people are seeing. I believe there was also a Chinese bus study that suggested it spread by aerosols?
I thought this was clear last year, and it's been my personal working theory since last May. I didn't realize it was still being debated.
I don't know how much of the "debate" is actually a debate as opposed to a bunch of ghouls pushing droplet theory against general scientific consensus
haven't read the whole thing but this seems to be the article
The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill
Thanks for sharing.