Indoor airborne spread of coronavirus possible says WHO
London: The World Health Organisation is acknowledging the possibility that COVID-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions after more than 200 scientists urged the agency to do so.
In an open letter published this week in a journal, two scientists from Australia and the US wrote that studies have shown beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air.
The researchers, along with more than 200 others, appealed for national and international authorities, including WHO, to adopt more stringent protective measures.
WHO has long dismissed the possibility that the coronavirus is spread in the air except for certain risky medical procedures, such as when patients are first put on breathing machines.
In a change to its previous thinking, WHO noted on Thursday that studies evaluating COVID-19 outbreaks in restaurants, choir practices and fitness classes suggested the virus might have been spread in the air.
Airborne spread "particularly in specific indoor locations, such as crowded and inadequately ventilated spaces over a prolonged period of time with infected persons cannot be ruled out, WHO said.
Still, officials also pointed out that other modes of transmission like contaminated surfaces or close contacts between people in such indoor environments might also have explained the disease's spread.
WHO's stance also recognised the importance of people spreading COVID-19 without symptoms, a phenomenon the organisation has long downplayed.
WHO has repeatedly said such transmission is rare" despite a growing consensus among scientists globally that asymptomatic spread likely accounts for a significant amount of transmission.
The agency said that most spread is via droplets from infected people who cough or sneeze, but added that people without symptoms are also capable of transmitting the disease.
The extent of truly asymptomatic infection in the community remains unknown, WHO said.
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Nashik court sends ‘godman’ Kharat to 3-day police custody in 7th sexual exploitation case
Nashik (PTI): A court in Maharashtra's Nashik has remanded self-styled astrologer-cum-godman Ashok Kharat to police custody till April 29 in the seventh case of sexual exploitation registered against him.
Kharat, a former Merchant Navy officer arrested on March 18, is accused of sexually exploiting several women and indulging in large-scale financial fraud by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic.
In the seventh case, Kharat sexually exploited a married woman who had approached him in search of solutions to her family problems.
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The accused allegedly gave the woman something to drink, sexually assaulted her while her husband sat outside his office and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about it.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing into 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against Kharat in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts, on Sunday filed a request application in the court demanding his custody in the seventh case.
Kharat was produced in court for a virtual hearing in the seventh case on Monday.
The prosecution demanded six-day police custody for Kharat, citing the discovery of a locker in Kharat's house during the investigation, from which the police recovered two blank cheques and other documents, all of which have to be probed.
The court agreed to the prosecution's demand and remanded Kharat to three-day police custody till April 29 in the case.
Kharat has been at the centre of a political firestorm, as he was well-connected, and photographs of him with political leaders and other important members of society have been surfacing in mainstream and social media since his arrest.
