As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase in the countries around the globe, a study has found COVID-19 pathogen in air pollutants.
The study was led by led by Leonardo Setti of the University of Bologna in Italy. It was found that there are was COVID-19 specific gene in samples collected from one urban and one industrial site Bergamo province.
The findings conducted was also confirmed by an independent laboratory.
Leonardo Setti, the leading scientist in the study said that it was important to find out if the virus could be carried by pollutants in the air of which there is not sufficient evidence.“I am a scientist and I am worried when I don’t know,” he said. “If we know, we can find a solution. But if we don’t know, we can only suffer the consequences," the Guardian quoted him as saying.
Previous studies have found out that pollutants in the air might have caused bird flu, measles and foot-and-mouth disease-carrying the viruses over long distances. It is important for scientists to determine if the virus is airborne, in which case, it could be more contagious, and may change the entire response towards tackling the crisis.
It must be noted that earlier respiratory pathogens like the 2003 Sars coronavirus was spread in the air.
Research until now concluded that the COVID-19 virus can be transmitted through respiratory droplets from another human being. However, airborne transmission of the novel coronavirus is yet to be confirmed.
