GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization warned on Monday that there might never be a “silver bullet” for COVID-19 in the form of a perfect vaccine and that the road to normality would be long, with some countries requiring a reset of strategy.
People Over 6 Feet Tall Are Twice as Likely to Contract COVID-19, Survey Finds
Key coronavirus forecast predicts over 410,000 total U.S. deaths by Jan. 1: 'The worst is yet to come' - CNBC
People Over 6 Feet Tall Are Twice as Likely to Contract COVID-19, Survey Finds
A new survey of 2,000 people in the US and the UK suggests people over 6 feet tall have double the risk of getting infected with COVID-19 compared to their shorter counterparts.
The survey, which was conducted by an international team of scientists including experts from the University of Manchester and Open University, found that taller people are at a higher risk of infection by the novel coronavirus. The findings suggest that COVID-19 may also be transmitted through aerosols carried by air currents rather than exclusively through droplets, which are larger than aerosols and travel shorter distances before dropping from the air.
“The results of this survey in terms of associations between height and diagnosis suggest downward droplet transmission is not the only transmission mechanism and aerosol transmission is possible,” Professor Evan Kontopantelis of the University of Manchester said in a university news release published Monday.
“Though social distancing is still important because transmission by droplets is still likely to occur, it does suggest that mask wearing may be just as if not more effective in prevention. But also, air purification in interior spaces should be further explored,” Kontopantelis added.
The survey, which has yet to be peer reviewed, also looked into the effect of personal characteristics, circumstances and working conditions on COVID-19 transmission.
For instance, the study found that using a shared kitchen or accommodation increased the risk of contracting COVID-19 by 3.5 times and 1.7 times in the US and the UK, respectively.
The findings also showed that people with natural science degrees in the UK were less likely to get COVID-19 than their counterparts in the US, even after controlling for factors like car ownership and other socioeconomic considerations.
“Both structural and individual factors must be taken into account when predicting transmission or designing effective public health measures and messages to prevent or contain transmission,” said Rolando Gonzales Martinez, a researcher at the University of Agder in Norway, who was also involved in the study.
“But it would be helpful to have repeat observations so more could be said about changes over time,” Martinez added.
The U.S. will top more than 410,000 Covid-19 deaths by the end of the year as the country heads into the fall and winter, according to a new forecast from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University
of Washington.
193,586
