The British Medical Association published a new study on Thursday reaffirming that the main route of coronavirus transmission through the “aerosols” we expel when speaking, that is, through the air.
In that sense, they warned that one of the most effective ways to prevent contagion is to ventilate environments and maintain what they called “breath-garlic distance,” something like the distance you keep with someone when they have “bad breath.” Virologist Julian Tang explained it as follows: “When you talk to a friend or share the same air with which you hear your friend speak, we call it the breath-garlic distance. So if you can smell your friend’s lunch, you’re inhaling a little of that air, as well as any viruses that inhale with it.”
Tang, the lead author of a new study published on Thursday, added that it is through interaction with another person that a conversation is held less than a metre away when there are risks of contagion. They also emphasized using good quality beards or mouth plugs that actually serve as a physical barrier against aerosols that we fire when we breathe or talk and that can stay in the air for hours. In turn, he said that focusing on hand washing and disinfection of surfaces is not as important as making sure to ventilate spaces by closing windows or installing and improving ventilation systems and air conditioners.
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