CSIR to start study on whether coronavirus is airborne or not

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that coronavirus is not an airborne disease and mostly spreads through respiratory droplets and most droplets do not travel further than one metre. It has further said that there is a possibility that in some settings, very small droplets may carry virus further than a meter.

Meanwhile, before giving any statement, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has decided to do a research with the help of sample collection from the high-risk zones. “We are starting the study this week. The droplets we expel out of our mouth and nose contain viral particles or not is the question and whether they can potentially infect another uninfected person without touching,” said Dr Shekhar C Mande, director, CSIR

CSIR is going to start the research in two labs — Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and the Institute of Microbial Technology in Chandigarh — which is expected to be completed within a period of two weeks. “Two labs have planned a study which they are going to start this week.