Professor Greg Evans (ChemE, ISTEP) was featured in a Global News segment to discuss evolving evidence that COVID-19 can be transmitted through microscopic airborne water droplets, such as sneezes and coughs, which have the potential to exceed a two metre distance and travel in enclosed spaces.
The interview comes after 239 experts across 32 countries came together to sign an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) calling on the medical community and national and international bodies to recognize the airborne spread of COVID-19 — a mechanism of transmission not previously acknowledged by WHO.
Read the open letter to WHO >>
“The practical implications relate to indoor spaces. Toronto and other municipalities have already implemented the important first step by making masks mandatory in indoor public spaces,” says Evans. “The second step relates to increased awareness of the balance needed between ventilation and room occupancy. This is relevant to spaces such as offices, schools and transit.”
The letter was spearheaded and written by former ChemE post-doctoral fellow, Lidia Morawska, now a professor at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, and Director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health.
Professor Jeffrey Siegel (CivMin) was a second U of T Engineering expert to sign and comment on the letter.
Learn more about air filtration and COVID-19 >>
Watch the Global News segment: