CDC Acknowledges That COVID-19 Can Spread Through the Air

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has officially acknowledged that COVID-19 can sometimes be transmitted through the air with an addition to its website on Monday, reports Yahoo! Life . "Some infections can be spread by exposure to virus in small droplets and particles that can linger in the air for minutes to hours," the update reads. "These viruses may be able to infect people who are further than six feet away from the person who is infected or after that person has left the space." This update came several weeks after the CDC removed statements acknowledging the virus can spread through aerosols. "There is evidence that under certain conditions, people with COVID-19 seem to have infected others who were more than six feet away," the CDC wrote. "These transmissions occurred within enclosed spaces that had inadequate ventilation. Sometimes the infected person was breathing heavily, for example, while singing or exercising." Experts have welcomed the CDC's acknowledgement on Twitter. The University of California, San Diego's Kimberly Prather tweeted that she was "feeling hopeful" following the update, along with a newly published paper in Science calling on the medical community to "harmonize discussions about modes of virus transmission."