In a podcast published by The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Eric J. Rubin, MD, PhD, editor-in-chief for the journal, and Lindsey Baden, MD, MMSc, deputy editor of the journal, discussed practical measures that could help prevent the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).1
First discussed was the difference in aerosol and surface stability of SARS-CoV-2, which has been linked to COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-1, the most closely related human coronavirus.2 The comparison of the 2 viruses was published in a study in NEJM, which found that the stability of SARS-CoV-2 was similar to that of SARS-CoV-1.
The important difference in the 2 novel coronavirus strains, however, is that of high viral loads in the upper respiratory tract and the potential for persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 to shed and transmit the virus while asymptomatic.
“Aerosols may not be the primary mode of…
