6 feet distance not enough? New govt advisory warns virus can contract people upto 10 metres

The advisory has also said that the concentration of droplets and aerosols was less in open spaces and chances of the virus spread greatly reduce in well ventilated spaces.

Amidst the rising Coronavirus spread in the country, the central government in an advisory has said that the disease can be transported through air as well as in the form of aerosols and contract people who are upto 10 metres away. The advisory has incorporated the growing evidence in different parts of the world that the virus can spread through air and in particular through air in enclosed spaces, the Indian Express reported.

New finding significance
Earlier the virus was understood to spread from an infected person to another person with the help of droplets that are emitted when the infected person sneezes, coughs or speaks without a face mask. The common understanding was that the droplets, before eventually falling on the ground, could travel upto 2 metres(6 feet) and equivalent physical distance between two individuals can keep the virus at bay. However, with more research on the disease, scientists have expressed apprehensions that the disease also gets spread through aerosols which help droplets travel long distances and survive in the air for up to several minutes or even hours.

What does the new advisory add?
The advisory has said that the disease can spread from an infected person to another person even upto a distance of 10 metres and droplets released from an infected person can travel upto 10 metres with the help of aerosols. The advisory has said that aerosols and droplets emitted from infected patients remain the major source of transmission of the disease. Moreover, the advisory also said that surface transmission of Coronavirus can also not be ruled out as droplets descending on different surfaces can be picked up by people. Initially assumed to be a substantial cause for rapid spread of the disease, surface contact is not considered to be a major contributing factor behind the virus spread now.

Precautions to keep virus away
Proper ventilation of an indoor space with the help of windows and doors along with using exhaust devices can greatly reduce the spread of the disease. In the absence of proper ventilation the aerosols and droplets carrying the virus concentrate and heighten the chances of contracting the disease. The advisory has also said that the concentration of droplets and aerosols was less in open spaces and chances of the virus spread greatly reduce in well ventilated spaces.