People Over 6Ft Tall Are More Likely To Catch COVID-19, New Study Suggests

With how fast COVID-19 has been infecting people, we are trying our best to protect ourselves from the novel coronavirus.

Ever since WHO and researchers admitted that there were chances that the virus could be transmitted through aerosol transmission, people became even more terrified of the virus.

A group of researchers from the US, UK, and the UK, were trying to find factors that could lead to a larger transmission. They took a test with 2,000 participants in America and England. While they figured out that COVID-19 could spread through aerosol transmission, they also found out that people who were taller could be more likely to contract the virus.

The findings were published on Medrxiv, in a non-peer-reviewed journal, researchers suggest that people who are around 6 feet tall or higher are more susceptible to be infected with COVID-19 than shorter people.

Researchers point the reason for the higher chance of infection to the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in aerosols. When a person talks or sneezes, saliva droplets will travel a certain distance until they are pulled down to the floor by gravity.

However, microdroplets turning into aerosols can stay in the air longer, thus infecting more people. These then can be stuck in areas that are poorly ventilated. And then they travel to wherever the air currents flow, without landing anywhere.

In a statement, Professor Evan Kontopantelis said that the findings suggested that downward droplet transmission wasn’t COVID-19’s only transmission mechanism. Therefore, wearing a mask might not be more effective in protecting people against the virus. He added that air purification should be explored further.

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