Coronavirus Could Have a Transmission Distance of About 13 Feet, According to New Study
Coronavirus could have a transmission distance of about 4 meters — roughly 13.1 feet — according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.
The study looked at an intensive care and a general hospital ward in a hospital in Wuhan, China. Researchers found that COVID-19 could be found on things around the hospital like the floors, computer mice and trash cans, and that the virus could be detected in the air about 4 meters from patients.
One limitation to the study the researchers note is that they don't know how much of the virus survives at 4 meters, or if that amount is infectious.
In addition, the virus can be tracked across the floor, as evidenced by the discovery that half of the samples from the soles of the shoes of ICU workers tested positive for the virus, implying that their shoes could be carriers of the virus as they walk around.