In October 2008, researchers did a study like this in Ontario for seasonal influenza and literally stopped the study because of the 2009 influenza pandemic. Last year, the same PI was granted permission to do this during a far worse respiratory virus pandemic. What is going on? https://twitter.com/rkhamsi/status/1384924087454154758

Apparently, this is the type of research that is allowed to happen when the importance of infection through inhalation is underemphasized.

It is why systematic reviews on this topic are carefully vetted by multidisciplinary teams, such that they are not used to justify inadequate PPE for workers. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00869-2/fulltext

It is why qualified experts who study this complex topic, irrespective of their field, should have been taken more seriously early on & not lumped together or portrayed to the public as just, for example, “engineers”, as if that were somehow grounds for dismissing their knowledge

It is why the airborne transmission discussion is not just, as @zeynep says, “jargon quibble”

And it underscores why what influential health experts and authorities say on social media and other platforms matters, and why it is important to correct inaccurate and impactful statements upfront and with absolute clarity.

The world needs a clear-cut and far-reaching statement about this.

What other studies like this are going on or planned at the expense of healthcare and frontline worker safety?