The WHO acknowledges COVID-19 airborne transmission

The World Health Organization changed its tune this week on several aspects of how the coronavirus spreads. At the urging of more than 200 scientists, the global health agency said on Thursday that the coronavirus can survive in the air in certain indoor settings. It also noted that people without symptoms can transmit COVID-19 to others.

What changed? The agency had previously downplayed both possibilities. But in its newest statement, it said studies on outbreaks in restaurants, choir practices, and fitness centers suggested airborne transmission “particularly in specific indoor locations, such as crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces over a prolonged period of time with infected persons cannot be ruled out.”

Dig deeper: Read June Cheng’s report about China’s growing influence over the WHO.