A guideline to limit indoor airborne transmission of COVID-19

CNET – “Wash your hands. Wear a mask. Stand at least six feet away from others. These are the guidelines many of us have lived by for the past year, all of them suggested in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, MIT researchers are taking a closer look at the six-foot recommendation [A guideline to limit indoor airborne transmission of COVID-19. Free full text online – PNAS April 27, 2021] – to see how effective social distancing really is. The short answer? In certain situations, six feet of distance isn’t enough to protect you on its own and you should probably still wear a mask. The real answer? That’s a little complicated. The paper says that in “well-mixed spaces, one is no safer from airborne pathogens at 60 ft than 6ft,” but the context of this statement depends on the size of the space, how well ventilated it is and what the persons in the room are doing…”