WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland | Credit | File photo

The World Health Organization has revealed that there is evidence the coronavirus can be spread through airborne,The Economic Times has reported.

This means the virus can move from one person to another after being suspended in the air for long periods like flu, tuberculosis, and valley fever.

In an open letter to WHO on Monday, 239 scientists in 32 countries outlined evidence that they say shows floating virus particles can infect people who breathe them in.

They say this is because the smaller particles exhaled can linger in the air.

The WHO has previously said the virus that causes the coronavirus spreads primarily through small droplets expelled from the nose and mouth of an infected person.

It asked people to maintain a social distance of two meters.

But the scientists now call on WHO to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease passes between people.

Speaking yesterday at a press briefing in Geneva, the WHO’s technical lead for Infection, Prevention and Control, said there was evidence emerging of airborne transmission of the coronavirus, but that it was not definitive.

“…The possibility of airborne transmission in public settings – especially in very specific conditions, crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings that have been described, cannot be ruled out,” Benedetta Allegranzi said.

She stressed that these evidence of airborne infections are seen in public settings – especially in crowded, closed, poorly ventilated settings.

The WHO said it would publish a scientific brief summarizing the state of knowledge on modes of transmission of the virus in the coming days.