#covidisairborne: produção e circulação de evidências sobre a transmissão da covid-19

Abstract

This work investigates the production and circulation of scientific evidence on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, with an emphasis on the scientific debate surrounding aerosol viral transmission and the implications of different understandings in prevention practices adopted around the world. Ethnographically driven, the research was conducted from the hashtag #covidisairborne, which had significant repercussion among scientists and activists on the social media platform Twitter, and analyzed various digital materials such as scientific articles, interviews, newsletters, and tweets published on the network as they circulated in the field, as well as following the work of an aerosol research laboratory. The advent of covid is said to have intensified the dispute over the modes of viral transmission, turning it into a public issue with repercussions on the disease prevention practices disseminated during the pandemic. In the face of scientific evidence related to transmission, scientific facts present themselves in a contextual manner and are implicated in different discourses and intentions for managing the health crisis. The covid pandemic is said to have accelerated the recognition of indoor air quality as a public health issue that draws attention to the air we breathe, and strategies for mitigating risks associated with the "new normal" need to be informed by principles of social justice and the right to health.