Under ‘certain conditions’ COVID-19 can infect people who are more than 6 feet away, CDC says

DETROIT – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its guidance that acknowledges that COVID-19 can be airborne.

The updated guidance says that the virus can spread by exposure to small droplets and particles that can “linger in the air for minutes to hours.”

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The CDC also said that under “certain conditions” evidence shows that people with COVID-19 appeared to have infected others who were more than 6 feet away. Those transmissions took place “within closed spaces that had inadequate ventilation," according to the CDC.

The CDC said it’s more common for the virus to spread through close contact than through airborne transmission. The update comes weeks after the agency published, but then took down, guidance warning about airborne transmission of the virus.

The CDC said it was removed because it was just a draft version of proposed changes.

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