The CDC’s update is a long-awaited one, after seemingly vacillating on the issue last month. On Sept. 18, the CDC’s guidelines were updated to include the possibility of COVID being transmitted through the air. However, on Sept. 21, the CDC claimed that the update was released “in error,” and subsequently deleted any mention of COVID being airborne from their guidelines. The agency’s Oct. 5 update, which relates COVID transmission to that of tuberculosis, measles, and chickenpox, also includes the fact that poor ventilation indoors increases the risk of airborne spread. The CDC cites cases of infected people breathing heavily indoors, for example, while singing or exercising who have subsequently infected others.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb “Under these circumstances, scientists believe that the amount of infectious smaller droplets and particles produced by the people with COVID-19 became concentrated enough to spread the virus to other people,” the CDC’s website reads. “The people who were infected were in the same space during the same time or shortly after the person with COVID-19 had left.” RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. Although the CDC is now acknowledging that airborne transmission is possible, the agency maintains that person-to-person contact remains the most significant way COVID spreads. As a result, wearing a mask and social distancing continue to be the best ways to protect yourself from the virus, both in terms of close contact with an infected individual and airborne transmission. And if you’re worried you could have the virus, check out The 51 Most Common COVID Symptoms You Could Have.
