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