Can COVID-19 Spread Through The Air?
COVID-19Common questionCan COVID-19 spread through the air?Research shows that the virus can live in the air for up to 3 hours. It can get into your lungs if someone who has it breathes out and you breathe that air in. Experts are divided on how often the virus spreads through the airborne route and how much it contributes to the pandemic.
Can COVID-19 be transmitted through the air?
Aerosols are emitted by a person infected with coronavirus — even one with no symptoms — when they talk, breathe, cough, or sneeze. Another person can breathe in these aerosols and become infected with the virus. Aerosolized coronavirus can remain in the air for up to three hours. A mask can help prevent that spread.
Coronavirus Resource Center
How far can COVID-19 particles travel in the air?
The new findings support earlier work from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which suggested that particles from a cough, buoyed by the warm air in our breath, could travel much farther than 6 feet
Coughs Can Send COVID Virus Farther Than 6 Feet
How long can COVID-19 linger in the air?
The smallest very fine droplets, and aerosol particles formed when these fine droplets rapidly dry, are small enough that they can remain suspended in the air for minutes to hours.
Scientific Brief: SARS-CoV-2 Transmission
What is the main way COVID-19 is transmitted?
The principal mode by which people are infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus.
Scientific Brief: SARS-CoV-2 Transmission