On Monday, the CDC acknowledged, for the first time, that COVID-19 can spread via particles in the air. Previously, the federal health agency’s “How COVID-19 Spreads” webpage did not contain a section on airborne transmission.
Now, there is a header that reads “COVID-19 can sometimes be spread by airborne transmission” with four bullet points of supporting information, including the fact that COVID-19 particles can linger in the air for minutes to hours, likening airborne transmission of coronavirus to how tuberculosis, measles and chicken pox spread.
“CDC continues to believe, based on current science, that people are more likely to become infected the longer and closer they are to a person with COVID-19. Today’s update acknowledges the existence of some published reports showing limited, uncommon circumstances where people with COVID-19 infected others who were more than 6 feet away or shortly after the COVID-19-positive person left an area,” the agency’s media statement reads.
Both the statement and the webpage clarify that this type of airborne transmission has mostly occurred in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces that involved activities that caused heavier breathing, like singing or exercise.
“Under these circumstances, scientists believe that the amount of infectious smaller droplet and particles produced by the people with COVID-19 became concentrated enough to spread the virus to other people,” said the CDC.
In July, the World Health Organization issued a similar scientific finding, saying airborne transmission was possible, especially outdoors in large crowds and indoors in poorly ventilated buildings. In addition to the webpage update, the CDC issued its own scientific brief Monday on SARS-CoV-2 and the potential for airborne transmission.
The CDC’s airborne transmission addition comes less than two weeks after similar guidance was posted on the same webpage but quickly removed. Eagle-eyed citizens raised concerns about possible political interference, but the CDC said a draft version of “proposed changes…was posted in error” when asked about the sudden removal.
Throughout the pandemic, there have been multiple reports of interference within the CDC from the Trump Administration. In May, for example, the Washington Post reported that the Trump Administration removed warnings in CDC guidance for the reopening of houses of worship that cited singing in choirs as high-risk for spreading the coronavirus. In July, the White House told hospitals to stop reporting data into a CDC system that had been used to track cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The Administration instead directed hospitals to send data to a different federal database managed by the Department of Health and Human Services. The decision was backtracked only a month later after it was met with heavy criticism from the public and doctors alike. Yesterday, POLITICO reported, according to emails it obtained, that the Administration pressured the CDC to change a report on children and coronavirus in the late summer amid discussions on when to re-open schools.