Covid: Virus spreads through air; UAE doctors’ urge caution

  • Date: 18-Apr-2021
  • Source: Khaleej Times
  • Sector:Healthcare
  • Country:UAE
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Covid: Virus spreads through air; UAE doctors’ urge caution

UAE doctors have called on residents to strictly follow safety measures after a report by The Lancet says SARS-CoV-2 is an airborne pathogen.

The paper, written by six experts from the UK, the US and Canada have cited ten reasons why SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted primarily by air, debunking the earlier predominant scientific view that the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is not an airborne pathogen.

Arguing that there are ‘insufficient grounds for concluding that the pathogen is not airborne' they have also called for an urgent modification of the established Covid-19 safety protocols.

In response to the report, UAE doctors have said in addition to following the basic health and safety protocols such as regular hand washing, mask-wearing, and physical distancing; the general public must also become more aware and more cautious of several other factors that could cause the virus to spread.

Dr Igbal Mubarak Sirag, specialist internal medicine at Bareen International Hospital, MBZ City, said “If a virus is airborne, there is a higher risk of infecting others through inhalation of aerosols produced when an infected person exhales, speaks, shouts, sings, sneezes, or coughs.”

He said the public must also factor in