Professor Lydia Morawska, a Polish-Australian physicist, was on this year’s list of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. “W Faktach po Faktach” on TVN24 explained how she and a group of accompanying scientists were able to influence the World Health Organization to update recommendations on the fight against SARS-CoV-2.
a. Lydia Morawska has worked as a collaborator and consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) for many years, and for more than two decades she has been involved in the development of WHO recommendations on air quality. This year, she was on the list of the 100 most influential people published by Time magazine.
Read more: Who is Professor Lydia Morawska?
She capitalized on her interest in the impact of air quality on human health in a multidisciplinary research group established in 2020, which has developed the importance of transmission of SARS-CoV-2-containing particles in the air and the risks it poses to health. Morawska headed a group of scholars and scientists from all over the world. Based on the results of the work of this group, the World Health Organization has updated its recommendations for combating SARS-CoV-2.
Professor Morawska: I had no doubts about how the virus was transmitted
Professor Morawska spoke about how she was able to persuade the World Health Organization to change its approach to fighting the coronavirus in “Fact by Fact” on Tuesday.
And she explained, “Science has long fully confirmed that this virus is not only this virus, but also other viruses that originate in the respiratory system, primarily in the air.”
“So I had no doubts about how the virus would spread,” she emphasized.
Professor Morawska on what “encouraged” her to change the WHO’s approach
She then described how she was able to influence the decisions of the World Health Organization.
– When at the end of March (2020 – editor) I heard statements from the World Health Organization that the virus is not in the air, then I decided that something had to be done about it. Because if this misinformation continues to spread, it will lead to more (number – ed) cases, to more (number – ed) than death – I continued.
– She prompted me to create a group now called “Group 36”. I organized it in literally three or four days – she said. – I wrote a petition to the Director-General (edited by WHO) explaining what it looks like and asking to take action and change the recommendations they made at that time – explained Professor Morawska.
– We started talking, but unfortunately nothing has changed. So, we thought about what to do next. It lasted for three months, until the beginning of July. Then, in the journal “Clinical Infectious Diseases” (a specialized journal dealing with pathogenesis and the immune system, among others – editor), an open letter to the World Health Organization was published, calling on the topic of transmission of the virus in the air to Morawska recalls.
Lydia MorawskaTwitter / qut.edu.au
Main image source: TVN24
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