BY: CLAIRE KIM
According to the New York Times, “in an open letter to the W.H.O., 239 scientists in 32 countries have outlined the evidence showing that smaller particles can infect people, and are calling for the agency to revise its recommendations. The researchers plan to publish their letter in a scientific journal next week.”
If what scientists are saying is true, then the current dynamics of our COVID-19 lifestyle are about to become more challenging than ever before.
While cautioned to wear masks primarily in outdoor spaces, if the virus is officially stated as airborne, this would mean that masks, even in socially distanced settings, would become necessary indoors as well, making the prospect of indoor dining and classroom conducted courses much more difficult to envision in the future. Reopenings are probably going to be limited because of such health risks, and even if we ever do go back to indoor spaces for dining or learning, we will probably all be wearing masks of some sort. This is interesting to imagine…
Additionally, if the virus is confirmed to be airborne the importance of maintaining “social distancing” guidelines would abridge to a certain extent. The thought that regardless of how distant you are from another person, the virus will inevitably spread the general area you’re in defeats the purpose of staying distant as a defensive mechanism in the first place–a win for the coronavirus and a loss for us.
Hopefully, such claims of the coronavirus being airborne are proven false or lacking in specificity. In so many regards, the airborne nature of the coronavirus will bring about unforeseen lifestyle shifts that, currently, seems daunting to envision. What we think is difficult right now, will become ten times more difficult if such a hypothesis is verified, and our hopes of returning to our “normal” ways will become a helpless hope.
claire kim. 