The White House Coronavirus Task Force will begin looking into just how much of the coronavirus is transmitted via aerosols, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Fauci, a member of the task force, made his remarks during an online forum Wednesday by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“Right now, I have brought this to the task force to really take a really good look at this,” Fauci said.
The theory had been that "if you have a particle that's greater than five micrometers, it's likely going to fall down. If you have one that's less than five micrometers, then you can get an aerosol (of it} floating," he said.
But virus particle specialists suggested a different look at the issue.
“They say you really better take a bigger look at this, because from what we know about particle physics and airflows, there may be droplets that may be much larger than five micrometers that continue to go around," he said.
And Fauci added: “It gives you a greater reason to wear your mask at all times. But, it also tells you that outdoors will likely be much better than indoors. “That when you are indoors, you've really got to look at what the circulation is and should you be doing things like filtering with HEPA filters.
“These are things that are unknown now, but that is something we are going to address because it’s something that’s been always hanging out there.”
Fauci, during an interview with Politico's "Pulse Check" podcast, maintained shutting down the country again is not necessary if people take certain protective measures.