Narratives and counter-narratives

“Covid is droplet-, not airborne-, spread”

On 11th February 2020, the World Health Organisation’s Director-General announced that “corona[virus-19] is airborne”.7 After a prompt, he corrected himself and declared firmly that the virus was not airborne but transmitted by droplets (e.g. via coughs, sneezes and contaminated objects). The World Health Organisation has long considered airborne diseases to be potential bioterrorist threats8 (Dr Adnahom apologised for using “the military word”), and there was a dire international shortage of respirator-grade personal protective equipment.9
The World Health Organisation’s early public information campaign promoted droplet measures—handwashing, respiratory hygiene and disinfection of surfaces and objects (Table 1, column a). It also reassured the public that the virus was not airborne (Figure 1).10 Droplet transmission was assumed rather than scientifically substantiated,11 12 mainly because infection prevention and control clinicians—whose day jobs included enforcing droplet controls in hospitals, especially by promoting handwashing—predominated in key committees.13

Figure 1: ‘Covid is not airborne’ tweet from World Health Organisation, 28th March 2020