See How A Sneeze Can Launch Germs Much Farther Than 6 Feet

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Guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends people stay at least six feet apart from one another, likely falls short because it doesn’t take fluid dynamics into account, Bourouiba says. She and her colleagues have documented a droplet from a sneeze traveling more than four times that distance. While sneezing is not one of the common symptoms of COVID-19, an asymptomatic person with seasonal allergies or a random sneeze could still spread the germ.

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“That has implications for how many people you can put in a space,” she says. “It has implications for how to handle teamwork and meetings, especially if the airflow isn’t changed regularly.”

Droplets large and small

When a virus that infects the respiratory system leaves the human body, it’s contained within a droplet of saliva and mucus. For decades, scientists have categorized these as either large droplets—larger than five to 10 microns—or small droplets, called aerosols.

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