Terrifying video shows how a cough can spread on an airplane.
Purdue University in Indiana created a simulation of how virus pathogens travel and it’s much further than expected.
In the video, you see tiny saliva droplets from one cough circulating through the plane.
And while the ten people sitting closest to the infected person are most at risk because of their proximity, the germs reached everyone on the plane.
The simulation from the university was based on airborne viruses that linger in the air. Scientists, however, say it’s too soon to know if SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, fits this category.
“The model was based on the assumption that the 2003 SARS virus was an airborne disease,” Lead researcher Qingyan Chen and colleagues wrote. “This means the germs from a person’s breathe, sneeze or cough can linger in the air and travel because the droplets are very small in size.”
Leaders from the World Health Organization said Covid-19 is primarily transmitted through droplets of germs, which tends to be larger in size.
Droplets of germs travel short distances before falling to the floor which is why social distancing helps to stop the spread.
But when traveling on a plane, it’s important to note that air conditioning units in-flight could spread the virus around the room because it’s a confined space with no windows, according to a report from The Sun.