Covid is airborne but in very limited environment: WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan

In an exclusive interview with India Today, WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said that Covid is airborne but in a very limited environment.

When asked can Covid-19 be airborne, Dr Swaminathan said, "When we speak, shout, sing or even breathe, there are a lot of droplets that come out of our mouth, and these droplets are of different sizes. The larger droplets fall on to the ground within 1-2 meters. This is why there is so much emphasis on maintaining a distance so that these droplets can be prevented from directly transmitting from one person to another.

"But there are also smaller droplets that are less than 5 microns in size. They are called aerosols and since they are small in size, they can stay a bit longer in the air as they take a little longer to settle on the ground. These droplets can be moved around by gusts of winds etc. Therefore, these particles could be inhaled by other people who are in the vicinity. This form of transmission of Covid-19 can be called as airborne transmission."

Watch Dr Soumya Swaminathan's full interview with Rajdeep Sardesai here.