The United Kingdom is at risk of climbing to 50,000 coronavirus cases per day by mid-October if the nation's infectious rate continues at its current trajectory, according to Britain's Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance and the government's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty in a televised national address.
"If we don't do enough the virus will take off and at the moment that is the path that we are clearly on and if we do not change course then we're going to find ourselves in a very difficult problem," Whitty warned, quoted by Reuters.
Meanwhile, rising new coronavirus infection number in countries like France, Austria and the Netherlands have begun to worry German Health Minister Jens Spahn, who warned that Germany will eventually import new cases from those countries as boarders remain open. Spahn added that the level of infection in neighbor Spain is "likely out of control," according to Reuters.
Throughout Europe, new infections have begun to rapidly develop, with caseloads soaring seamlessly undetected in younger populations that threaten to increase the virus's presence in older and more vulnerable populations. As cases begin to rise, health experts and officials have begun to expect reinstatements of social restrictions and possibly another round of lockdowns.
C.D.C. Reversal
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) last week quietly introduced new guidance on coronavirus aerosol transmission that stated that the virus is mostly transmitted through the air and can remain suspended for a long period of time, adding that viral particles are able to travel beyond six feet. The federal agency included in its update that it recommends the use of air purifiers to reduce airborne germs indoors to help prevent the virus from spreading.
The C.D.C.'s website stated in its guidance posted on Friday, quoted by the New York Times, that the virus is spread through "respiratory droplets or small particles, such as those in aerosols, produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks, or breathes," adding that "this is thought be the main way the virus spreads."
But on Monday, the federal health agency reversed its stance on aerosol transmission, stating that: "A draft version of proposed changes to [the recommendations on how the virus spreads] was posted in error to the agency's official website. C.D.C. is currently updating its recommendations regarding airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus the causes COVID-19). Once this process has been completed, the update language will be posted."
The World Health Organization had earlier corrected the C.D.C. for the error in its guidance, with the agency's Director of Emergencies Dr. Mike Ryan stating during a Monday press conference that the global health agency has not seen any new evidence regarding aerosol transmission. Ryan had asked the C.D.C. to clarify what its recommendation change had meant.
Despite the C.D.C. seemingly making another mistake in how their coronavirus information is presented on their website, this is not the first time that aerosol transmission has been tied to the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Back in July, more than 200 scientists from around the world wrote an open letter to the W.H.O. to review its evidence on small particle transmission through the air.
The W.H.O. has current evidence that the virus is spread mainly through heavy respiratory droplets that leave an infected individual as they sneeze or cough and quickly fall to the ground and surfaces. While the virus may be able to spread through aerosols, the heavier partials that are expelled by an individual are still regarded as the way the coronavirus is spread.
