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In the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic, experts vehemently disagreed with each other on how the virus was spread.  Sneezing, coughing, surfaces, airborne - we just didn't know for sure.  Thankfully, one of the things that hasn't shut down is scientific and medical research.   In fact, I think it's safe to say that the truth is actually quite the opposite - research on everything COVID-19 in increased dramatically.

The latest finding isn't encouraging, however.  What we suspected, then rejected - likely needs to be accepted by all of us for our and the greater good.  According to a research team at the University of Florida, the virus that causes COVID-19 is airborne.

MSN is reporting that researchers in the Sunshine State have found live viruses in aerosol form (floating through the air) from as far away as 7 to 16 feet from patients hospitalized with Covid-19.  That would mean that your mask is now necessary to protect you, and that the 6-foot rule may not be enough.

Aerosols are approximately 5 micrometers across, much smaller than the droplets emitted from the mouth and/or nose during a cough or a sneeze.  More testing is underway, but according to the report:

The genome sequence of the isolated virus was identical to that from a swab of a newly admitted symptomatic patient in the room.

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