After the World Health Organisation (WHO) acknowledged the possibility that the novel coronavirus can remain in the air in crowded indoor spaces, where “short-range aerosol transmission cannot be ruled out”, CSIR has announced it will conduct a study to ascertain the possibility of the spread of the virus through the air. 

As part of the study, air samples will be taken from two centres – the CSIR-Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) in Hyderabad and the CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTECH) in Chandigarh – to see if the presence of the virus can be detected or not. The study will take around 15 days to be completed.

Dr Shekhar C. Mande, Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) explaining the rationale behind the spread of the virus in crowded and closed spaces, says that the smaller particles of the water droplets from an infected patient tend to stay in the air for some time. The larger particles of aerosol get settled easily on the surfaces but the finer particles can still remain in the air for some time and at a crowded place without proper ventilation, there is a potential threat of spread through the droplets.