The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that it prematurely posted changes on its website to recommendations concerning transmission of the coronavirus, days after seemingly acknowledging the virus can be commonly spread through the air.
The CDC had updated its website Friday to state that COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, can be spread “through respiratory droplets or small particles, such as those in aerosols, produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes.”
But on Monday, the agency said the draft of the update “was posted in error.”
“CDC is currently updating its recommendations regarding airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19),” said a message posted Monday on the website. “Once this process has been completed, the update language will be posted.”
The CDC previously stated that COVID-19 was thought to spread mainly between people in close contact — within about 6 feet — and “through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks.”
The coronavirus has claimed the lives of nearly 200,000 Americans as of Monday.