BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A new finding could help researchers better understand how COVID-19 is transmitted.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on Wednesday, says that the droplets produced when we speak can last in the air between 8 and 14 minutes.
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According to the study, at least 1,000 droplets containing the virus are released for every one minute of loud speaking, and those droplets can be airborne for more than 8 minutes. The airborne droplets can be inhaled by others, which could in turn cause the spread of COVID-19.
However, the study does recognize that this is just an estimate and that some people can release “well over 100,000” droplets for every minute of speaking.
The researchers said that the droplets “are sufficiently small to reach the lower respiratory track, which is associated with an increased adverse disease outcome."
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