Why 6ft distancing might not be enough to stop airborne transmission of COVID-19

Respiratory droplets from COVID-19 patients can reach far beyond the current social distancing guidelines of 6 feet, warns a new study.

Saliva droplets can travel large distances, depending on environmental conditions such as wind speed, temperature, pressure and humidity, according to the study published in Physics of Fluids on May 19.

Researchers, Talib Dbouk and Dimitris Drikakis from University of Nicosia in Cyprus, have found that with even a slight breeze of 4 kph, saliva travels 18 feet in 5 seconds.

“The droplet cloud will affect both adults and children of different heights,” Drikakis said. “Shorter adults and children could be at higher risk if they are located within the trajectory of the travelling saliva droplets.”

Saliva is a complex fluid, and it travels suspended in a bulk of surrounding air released by a cough. Many factors affect how saliva droplets travel, including the size and number of droplets, how they interact with one another and the surrounding air as they disperse and evaporate, how heat and mass are transferred, and the humidity and temperature of the surrounding air…