The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday changed its tune about how coronavirus is transmitted.
It specifically removed language about airborne transmission it had posted just days earlier.
"A draft version of proposed changes to these recommendations was posted in error to the agency's official website.
CDC is currently updating its recommendations regarding airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).
Once this process has been completed, the updated language will be posted," Jason McDonald, a CDC spokesman, said in a response emailed to CNN.
The guidance pertained to the way the novel coronavirus is spread. While it's known it can spread through droplets among people standing less than 6 feet apart, research has continued to explore how the virus suspends in aerosolized particles in the air and transmitted to people more than 6 feet away.
The weird part about all of this is that just recently, as of Friday, September 18 as a matter of fact, they changed these guidelines to include language about COVID being transmitted through the air.
The CDC's previous language said that the virus can be spread through aerosols or small particles that can linger in the air.
The virus commonly spreads "through respiratory droplets or small particles, such as those in aerosols, produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes," the agency website read.
If a person inhales these particles through the nose, mouth, airways, and lungs, they can cause infection, according to the website. "This is thought to be the main way the virus spreads," they added.
"There is growing evidence that droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond 6 feet (for example, during choir practice, in restaurants, or in fitness classes)," the website used to say.
"In general, indoor environments without good ventilation increase this risk."
But now that language is gone and there is NO MENTION of it spreading in the air.
The move has some experts concerned and wondering why the sudden change? What is really true and is someone behind this change politically?
According to epidemiologist Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, the new developments mean that six feet may not be enough of a distance, especially in indoor spaces — and that there had been growing convergence on that point among scientists around the world for months.
But the CDC’s reversal, even if temporary, is both shocking and expected, Feigl-Ding said.
“I don’t understand what there is to politically gain by denying the existence of aerosol transmission.
At this point, trust in the CDC and FDA are just so woefully deficient,” he told Yahoo Finance.
While U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) has said the Sept. 15 memo will not affect coronavirus vaccines, experts are wary of the impact and are watching how the department ultimately handles vaccine approvals.
