Talking in confined spaces without a mask may pose the greatest risk of spreading COVID-19 to others

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-06-09 14:01

International

A review of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has found that not only is airborne transmission the main way COVID-19 is transmitted, but unmasked speech in confined spaces is the activity that poses the greatest risk to others. The authors say that as much of the COVID-19 transmission occurs before symptoms are present, that is prior to coughing, speech droplets are likely to be a more prevalent mode of presymptomatic and asymptomatic
transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The authors say when the water evaporates from speech-generated, potentially virus-rich droplets, they float in the air for minutes, like smoke, thus putting others at risk.

Media release

From: Wiley-Blackwell

Speech Droplets Drive Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

A new review published in the Journal of Internal Medicine indicates that unmasked speech in confined spaces poses the greatest risk of spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to others.

The focus of the review is on the interface between physics and medicine, and it describes how different sized respiratory droplets emitted while speaking span a continuum of sizes and can carry different amounts of virus. Most concerning are intermediate-sized droplets that remain suspended in air for minutes and can be transported over considerable distances by convective air currents.

“We’ve all seen some spit droplets flying when people talk but there are thousands more, too small to be seen by the naked eye. When the water evaporates from such speech-generated, potentially virus-rich droplets, they float in the air for minutes, like smoke, thus putting others at risk,” said senior author Adriaan Bax, PhD, of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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Journal/
conference: Journal of Internal Medicine

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: National Institutes of Health, USA

Funder: Work of the authors is supported by the Intramural Program of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease at the National Institutes of Health.

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