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C O V E R
S T O R Y
A new piece of evidence by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention published in the journal Emerging
Infectious Diseases suggests so. The newly published
study discovered that 9 people were infected with
COVID-19 simply by sitting within the vicinity of an
air-conditioning vent in a restaurant in Wuhan, China,
where the coronavirus had first been identified and
spread. The research determined that one asymptomatic
individual in the eatery managed to infect others as their
contagious droplets were circulated by the restaurant’s airconditioning
unit. Thereafter, 4 people at the person’s table
later tested positive for COVID-19, as well as 5 people
seated at neighboring tables.
John Lednicky, PhD, a microbiology and virology research
specialist within the University of Florida’s College of
Public Health and Health Professions explained that airconditioning
systems work to cool enclosed spaces by
removing humidity from the air, since water vapor can
hold onto heat. However, moisture also exists to give
weight to infectious droplets and particles floating through
the air. Should water vapor be removed to cool the air, it
may also enable infectious droplets to linger longer than
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