Seoul: A recent study in South Korea has added to growing evidence on airborne transmission of novel coronavirus.
The study — carried out by a group of epidemiologists led by Dr Lee Ju-hyung with the help of an engineer who specializes in aerodynamics – was published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science, reports Los Angeles Times.
The authors have said that the accepted standard of six feet for social distancing may not be enough for the safety of people.
Dr Lee’s study was based on an experiment in which they recreated the conditions at a restaurant in Jeonju, where some diners contracted the deadly virus from a visitor from another town. One of them was a high school student who got infected after exposure of merely five minutes, and that too from more than 20 feet away.
“In this outbreak, the distances between infector and infected persons were … farther than the generally accepted 2 meter (6.6-foot) droplet transmission range,” the authors wrote. “The guidelines on quarantine and epidemiological investigation must be updated to reflect these factors for control and prevention of COVID-19.”
