The coronavirus pandemic and aerosols: Does COVID-19 transmit via expiratory particles?

Abstract

As of late March 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has battered the world. More than 40,000 people have died with over 800,000 people confirmed infected; financial markets have crashed; restaurants and public plazas are deserted; countries have effectively closed their borders; and millions of people are confined to their homes under shelter-in-place orders. Virologists and epidemiologists are racing to understand COVID-19 and how best to treat it. Many unknowns remain, but one thing is eminently clear: COVID-19 is both deadly and highly transmissible.

A mysterious aspect, however, involves why it is so transmissible. Here we would like to pose a simple question: what role do aerosols play in transmission of COVID-19?