Consumer Reports explains what you need to know about the coronavirus and COVID-19.
www.consumerreports.org
As a
respiratory virus, the coronavirus spreads in droplets when someone coughs or sneezes, File says. People can also release viral particles when they talk, sing, or exhale. That means those within 5 or 6 feet of an infected person are the most likely to get sick when those viral particles land on a mucous membrane, like in an eye.
These viruses can also spread when people touch a surface contaminated with infectious droplets, then touch their nose, mouth, or eyes. But according to the CDC, while transmission via contaminated surfaces is possible, it's “not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.” At present, there’s no reason to think the pathogen could be transmitted
through food or via consumer goods. (See our article about
food safety and coronavirus.)
These viruses “don’t float around on the air for days on end,” says Isaac Bogoch, an epidemiologist and associate professor of infectious diseases in the department of medicine at the University of Toronto. But there is significant
evidence at this point that SARS-CoV-2 can
spread through the air, according to a
letter to the WHO signed by 239 scientists.
While the coronavirus is nowhere near as contagious as something like measles, airborne spread greatly increases the risk that people can catch the virus indoors, especially in poorly ventilated areas, according to Jose-Luis Jimenez, a professor of chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder who conducts research on aerosol droplets and is a signatory of the letter.
What's more,
evidence has shown that people infected with SARS-CoV-2 are able to spread it to others
before they seem to have symptoms or when their symptoms are
very minor. Many other viruses spread most readily when people are already showing clear symptoms.
“We know there is virus spread before you develop symptoms, and then we know that there’s a large group ... that actually is asymptomatic or has such mild cases that they continue to spread the virus,” Deborah L. Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House, said at a
March press briefing.