COVID-19 is an infectious disease that is caused by the coronavirus. The virus has resulted in a worldwide economic decline and has claimed several lives. At the start of the pandemic, most experts had the assumption that the virus can only be spread through direct or close contact with those who have been affected. The idea was that the virus is present in the respiratory fluid and when an infected individual coughs or sneezes that can infect people who are within proximity. Coming into contact with surfaces that have been contaminated was a cause of fomite transmission, which was among the key ways through which the virus was spreading. However, there has been an increasing concern about whether the virus is airborne. An airborne virus can be transmitted from one individual to another through the air. Most of airborne diseases have the strain of the virus in the air, and when inhaled an individual gets infected. Scientists have been focusing on establishing whether aerosol microscopic droplets of the virus can be contributors to the transmission. The virus can remain on surfaces such as plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours (World Health Organization, 2020). Thus, if an individual gets into contact with the surface within 72 hours, they are likely to be infected. However, there are no studies that have to conclude how long the virus can remain on air. The research paper will focus on investigating if it is possible to transfer coronavirus through the air. The outline of the study includes a problem statement, literature review, the method used in the investigation, a possible engineered solution to the problem and recommendations to curb the situation. Despite the availability of enough evidence that coronavirus can be transmitted through contaminated surfaces, there is no proof the transmission can take place through the air. The number of infected coronavirus infected people have been increasing since the first case was reported. The number of deaths has equally been growing, and that has raised concerns about the reason for the increasing rate. At the start of the pandemic, the primary measure put in place to curb the spread of the virus included social distancing and washing hands. The main idea behind the action was the belief that the virus was spreading through contaminated surfaces. The pandemic has affected the functioning of many economies across the globe ((United Nations Development Programme, 2020). Despite the measured put in place, the number of infected people has still been increasing, and that has raised concerns as to whether there are other ways through which the virus is spreading other that contaminated surfaces. Later on, new measures such as wearing masks were enforced. The advancement is because the virus may be spreading through the air. Once the aerosols of the virus become airborne, the water that is in the droplet will quickly evaporate, leaving smaller floating particles in the air (American Physical Therapy Association, 2020). Wearing a mask was thought to be a strategy to prevent people from breathing in the contaminated air. The study has two main objectives. One of the purposes is to conduct a review of the literature to know the opinion of other people on the issues. The review will entail analyzing peer-reviewed information and scientific journals on the transfer of coronavirus. The second objective is to create an engineered solution to the problem. The first strategy to address the goal is to identify the problem which is to know is coronavirus is transmitted through the air. The second strategy will be to create a solution based on the identified problem. The whole world has been faced with the challenging issue of dealing with the spread of the coronavirus that is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 strain of the virus. The virus was first reported in China on 31st December 2019. According to Morawska & Cao (2020), viral respiratory infections are only spread by coming into contact with a contaminated surface. Also, the droplets can be deposited directly to a healthy person from an infected individual if they are within proximity. Ais is one of the transmission routes that has been mentioned in passing. Morawska & Cao suggests that when an infected individual cough or sneezes the large droplets that mainly carry the virus will be deposited at the emission point. The smaller droplets are likely to be taken by air can travel several meters and affect a healthy person. However, the virus will not remain in the mood for long, and the small droplets can only travel for approximately ten meters. Thus, the study concludes that coronavirus can be transmitted through the air, and the fact should not be neglected in curbing the spread. The center for disease control and prevention and other health agencies insists that it is only possible to transmit viral diseases through large droplets. The small droplets are weak and, in most instances, they do not contain the virus. If it were possible to transmit coronavirus through the little droplets, then the infection rate would have been higher than it is at the moment. The reason why the world health organization recommended a social distancing of 1.5 meters is because they knew the virus could not spread through the small droplets from sneezing and coughing. The outcomes of many investigations on whether the virus can spread through the air are not conclusive. However, most analyses are consistent in aerosolization of the spread of the virus through breathing (Service, 2020). Gravity can give the large droplets of the virus an allowance of between one and two meters before they are pulled down. The World health organization recommends a safe distance of 3 meters from each other as the large droplets cannot travel that far. But if it is possible to suspend the coronavirus within the ultrafine mist that people produce while breathing then curbing the spread will be more difficult. Such is why it is recommended that people should wear masks despite the lack of clear evidence that coronavirus can be transmitted through the air. The primary pollutant used in the investigation is the coronavirus. It is challenging to describe why there has been a marginalization of the significance of transmission through the air. However, a possible reason is that the methodology used makes it difficult to measure the transportation of the virus through the air. After the virus has been released into the air, there is the dilution of the plume. Thus, there is no uniformity in the increase of the concentration of the virus in an enclosed environment. But there is an elevation that will take place in the flow of the virus through the air. Thus, the sampling method for the virus requires one to know the flow of air from the infected person and a sampling period that is longer for the collection of more copies of the virus. Thus, viral sampling is the main challenge in the methodology. The sample collection method is through viral sampling when an infected individual coughs or sneezes. The focus is to analyze the extent to which the virus will travel through the collection of virus samples in every one meter from the infected person. The leading environmental indicators are the presence of viral load droplets within the environment of the infected person (Clinical Trials.gov., 2020). Data analysis is done by determining the viral count and the distance from the point of expiration. Outcomes of the study indicate a high viral count closer to the end of expiration and less count as one mover far from the infected person. The proposed environmental solution is to maintain a safer distance from an infected individual. The solution aims an ensuring everyone is safe from infection despite the lack of enough evidence as to whether coronavirus can be transmitted through the air. The world health organization calls for the need to have a 3 meters social distance from each other in public places (Tolley et al., 2020). such is because it is not possible to know who is infected and who is not. The solution is equally focused on having people wear their masks at all time to prevent them from breathing in air that might be contaminated. The reason for using the proposed solution is that it is likely to be useful in solving the problem of increasing cases and deaths due to the spread of the virus. Staying away from each other will cut the chain of transmission. The expected outcomes of the proposed engineered solution are to have a decrease in the number of infected people. The answer, however, does not mean they need to neglect other measures like hand washing and disinfection of contaminated surfaces. The Ceteris Paribus is the proposed solution is that all the other efforts to curb the spread the virus are held constant (The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020). That means people are still washing their hands and avoiding visiting crowded places. The recommendation that will be effective in solving the problem is to focus on social media campaigns that will make people have access to information on the underlying state on coronavirus. The main objective of the media intervention is to create popularity on COVID – 19 and how best to navigate through the hard times (“Social Media at CDC,” 2014). When there is public awareness of how severe the coronavirus issue is, people will take it upon themselves to follow the guidelines provided by the WHO on how to stop the spread of the virus. The campaign is to make people know that each one of them has a role to play in ensuring that the infection does not spread. The ultimate goal of launching the media intervention will be to flatten the COVID – 19 curves by reducing the number of people suffering from the disease daily (Klok et al., 2020). The campaign will be to make people get tested for COVID – 19 without fear and stigmatization, eat healthily, and increase their hygiene practices.
Conclusion
There are several underlying causes of COVID – 19. The main is coming into contact with contaminated surfaces. However, there is no enough evidence to prove that coronavirus can be transmitted through the air. The vulnerability may occur when an individual is in a close distance, and a person already has the virus. Another underlying cause is the lack of sufficient information that can be important in containing the disease. If people are not aware of how best they can protect themselves, they are at a higher risk of contracting the disease. Unhealthy practices, such as eating fruits straight from the market without washing them, is the other underlying cause. Such is a direct way of ingesting the virus into the system. Some of the practices are unhygienic, and it's a way of breading the virus. The infection can last on the surface for 72 hours.
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References
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Klok, F. et al. (2020). The Post- COVID-19 Functional Status (PCFS) Scale: A Tool to Measure Functional Status Over Time After COVID-19. European Respiratory Journal, 1 (1), 1-8.
Morawska, L., & Cao, J. (2020). Airborne Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: The world should face the reality. Environment International Journal, 139 (1), 1-3.
Service, R. (2020). You many be able to spread coronavirus just by breathing, new reports find. Science. Retrieved from https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/you-may-be-able-spread-coronavirsu-just-breathing-new-report-finds. Accessed 29 October 2020.
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