Can COVID-19 be transmitted in the air?
Question:
Can COVID-19 be transmitted in the air? Should we be concerned that there may be a COVID testing center at the Civic Center on Jog Road?
Answer:
The best thoughts now are that the virus is transmitted through liquid droplets from one person to another, primarily through coughing and sneezing, and these droplets settle on surfaces within a few feet. However, to be absolutely complete, there is a discussion in the literature that the virus may be transmitted through aerosols. Aerosols are mists where the droplets are extremely small and where those droplets do not simply settle down on surfaces within the first few feet. These aerosols can travel as much as 20 feet or more.
There are reports from China that some department stores showed evidence of virus at their entrances, suggesting the virus may have been in the air there. But there is a VERY important caveat here. The only tests that are currently available to look for virus looks for RNA from the virus. Now, when samples of sputum are taken from patients, the presence of COVID-19 RNA is determinative of the presence of virus in that patient.
There is a big difference however, when you test air. First, this virus is not particularly robust. It falls apart under a lot of circumstances. If the bubble it is in dries out, as in heat or the sun, the virus’ fatty envelope falls apart. If it is exposed to UV light, it is destroyed.
This is a good time to talk about what happens when a virus particle is killed. A virus particle (specifically a coronavirus) is a piece of genetic material, in this case RNA, trapped inside a fatty bubble that has a few proteins on its surface. The entire particle, proteins, lipids (fatty envelope) and genetic material needs to be intact in order for the virus to bind to a cell, incorporate into the cell membrane and inject the RNA. If the pieces are broken apart, so that the proteins are separate from the fatty material and the RNA is loose, you cannot have an infection. It is not that an infection is less likely, in fact it is impossible. If you separate the battery and the light bulb from the casings of your flashlight, you can’t have any light, not a chance of having a little light. No light at all is possible.
When the virus is killed, by drying, heat, or UV light, it is broken into its parts. The tests we currently use look for the presence of RNA, not for the presence of live virus. So, when those tests at the department stores were done, and they found COVID-19 RNA present, it DID NOT mean that there was live virus there.
With that said, there is very little evidence that viruses can be transported for hundreds of yards and still be “viable”. What that means is that there is virtually no chance that even if the virus is aerosolized at the civic center, that it could possibly reach Addison Reserve, the entrance on Jog Road or any of the homes.
Follow up question:
Thank you for the in-depth explanation. Nanette spent 5 days in Boca Regional with lung issues last winter, so she is terrified of COVID-19. She takes precautions just going outside.
I understand her fear. If she feels safer that way, fine. Personally, I see no reason at all to wear gloves outside.
Don’t touch your face, and wash your hands when you come back in.
If you read too much you can end up immobilized by misinterpretations. For example, there are studies that have shown that virus can live on the bottom of shoes for several days.
STOP! Don’t misread that.
The odds of you picking up viable virus particles on your shoes from the street or grass as you walk is less than getting struck by lightning in April.
My point is, lead a safe life, but lead a life. Be safe, be healthy, be good.
We are all in this together, we are extraordinarily lucky to be isolating in a garden like this, with the services that are provided.
Anxiety and depression reduce your immune system.
RELAX. All with pass through.
If we all abide by the social isolation rules, but still go outside, walk, talk to others, etc., the R0 (rate of infection, or how many people an infected person passes the virus along to) drops to 1, we will be able to identify, isolate, contact trace and contain new infections.
The virus will be with us for many years, but we can control the spread and go back to normal lives.