Risk of coronavirus aerosol transmission for general public is little: Official

The result of research so far suggests that respiratory droplets and close contact are still the main routes of transmission for the novel coronavirus, Wu Yuanbin from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology said at a press conference on Friday. 

Experiments investigating aerosol transmission are being conducted in some Chinese institutes. 

Aerosol transmission refers to when droplets from respiration lose their water in the air and the leftover proteins and pathogens float far away, causing long-distance transmission, according to China's National Health Commission.

"The virus could only be passed on to people through aerosol transmission under the extreme conditions of sealed space, a long time period, and a high concentration of virus," said Wu, adding that the possibility of the general public being infected by this method was next to nothing. 

Some patients tested positive for COVID-19 after being discharged from hospitals, which has raised concerns on whether these patients are contagious. 

"We have been strengthening the monitoring of these patients," said Guo Yanhong, deputy head of the Medical Administration Bureau at National Health Commission. 

Guo told the press that some of those patients had shown negative in retests and there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission from these patients.

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