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Researchers published a study in the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences that was investigating a case in South Korea when a student became infected with the virus in minutes from a person approximately 20 feet away while dining indoors.
The discovery came after contact tracers were initially unable to figure out how the student contracted COVID-19 before tracking it back to her brief stop at a local restaurant.
According to the study, the student hadn’t traveled outside his region before spreading the virus, but through the use of GPS data, it showed that she had been in the same restaurant for a few minutes with another woman who had contracted COVID-19.
The study states that surveillance footage showed that the student and second woman never spoke or touched the same cutlery, dishware, or any other surfaces — but the movement of a light fixture indicated that an air conditioning unit had been on at the time, which facilitated the spread of the virus over the long distance.
"In conclusion, droplet transmission can occur at a distance greater than two meters if there is direct airflow from an infected person in an indoor setting," researchers concluded. "Therefore, updated guidelines for quarantine and environmental management of COVID-19 are needed until the approval of an effective treatment drug or vaccine."
The research counters the current CDC guidance on indoor dining, which suggests diners and staff members wear facial coverings, and diners are seated in small parties that are separated by at least six feet.
“COVID-19 is mostly spread when people are physically near (within 6 feet) a person with COVID-19 or have direct contact with that person,” the CDC guidance advises.
“When people with COVID-19 cough, sneeze, sing, talk, or breathe, they produce respiratory droplets. Infections occur mainly through exposure to respiratory droplets when a person is in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.
“There is evidence that under certain conditions, people with COVID-19 seem to have infected others who were more than 6 feet away. This is called airborne transmission," CDC guidance states. "These transmissions occurred within enclosed spaces that had inadequate ventilation.
“Available data indicate that it is much more common for the virus that causes COVID-19 to spread through close contact with a person who has COVID-19 than through airborne transmission.”
The complete study from the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences can be found here.
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