COVID-19 virus is evolving to get better at becoming airborne, new study shows

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/928734

 

 News Release 16-Sep-2021
UMD School of Public Health study suggests need for better ventilation and tight-fitting masks, in addition to widespread vaccination to help stop spread of the virus
Peer-Reviewed Publication
University of Maryland

 

Results of a new study led by the University of Maryland School of Public Health show that people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 exhale infectious virus in their breath – and those infected with the Alpha variant (the dominant strain circulating at the time this study was conducted) put 43 to 100 times more virus into the air than people infected with the original strains of the virus. The researchers also found that loose-fitting cloth and surgical masks reduced the amount of virus that gets into the air around infected people by about half. The study was published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

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