Coronavirus FAQs: Why Can't The CDC Make Up Its Mind About Airborne Transmission?

What is up CDC? First you say airborne transmission is a thing. Then you rolled it back. So ... is this something I should be worried about?

Last Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention briefly became the first major public health agency in the world to say the coronavirus could be frequently spreading through the air. A page on the CDC website on "How COVID-19 Spreads" described the coronavirus as spreading "most commonly" through "respiratory or small particles, such as those in aerosols," which are tiny airborne particles expelled from people's noses and mouths when they speak, sing, cough or breathe — and which can remain suspended in the air and travel further than six feet.

Aerosol researchers such as Linsey Marr, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech, who have been pushing for health agencies to officially recognize the potential importance of aerosol spread — cheered over the weekend.

But then, on Monday, CDC walked it back. "A draft version of proposed changes to these recommendations was posted in error," notes a box at the top of the CDC's page, adding that the agency is still working out what to say about aerosol transmission.

In the midst of this confusion, you might be wondering what exactly is in dispute. Does the coronavirus spread through the air? What precautions can help protect you?

The bottom line is: Yes, the coronavirus may be spreading through the air, particularly in stuffy rooms where many people aren't wearing masks. Read More

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Image Credit: Shanti Hands for NPR

We can expect an uptick in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths during the coming months for a number of reasons. The colder weather will drive people indoors. Due to the colder weather it will be more difficult to adequately ventilate the interiors of buildings and rooms. In warmer states like Floria which are seeing a reduction in their infection rate and easing or lifting restrictions, we also can anticipate an uptick of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as the public lowers its vigilance and disregards the need for precautionary measures such as social distancing, face masks, hand washing, and the like and out-of-state visitors travel to these states to escape the cold weather in their home states and bring the COVID-19 coronavirus with them, boosting the infection rates in these states. Considering these factors as well as what is happening in the United Kingdom, the European Union, and elsewhere in the world, a much more organized response, one that recognizes the seriousness of the pandemic and the need for appropriate measures to contain the pandemic and mitigate its effects, is clearly needed during the coming months, and not one that plays politics with human lives. I am not optomistic that we will see an end to the present turmoil.