A top American scientist, Anthony Fauci, has said the new coronavirus might spread through the air, via normal breathing and speaking.
His declaration supports the US government’s decision to recommend the use of face masks for everyone.
Fauci, who is the head of infectious diseases at the National Institutes of Health, told Fox News the guidance on masks would be changed “because of some recent information that the virus can actually be spread even when people just speak, as opposed to coughing and sneezing.”
Until now, US health agencies have said that the primary pathway of transmission was respiratory droplets, expelled by sick people when they sneeze or cough.
So far, the World Health Organization (WHO) remains cautious on the airborne threat of the COVID-19.
