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Covid coughs 10x more infectious than someone with virus speaking or breathing & risk to NHS staff ‘greater than feared’

COUGHING carries a 10 times greater risk of spreading Covid compared to speaking and breathing, a new study has shown.

Scientists say the study may explain why so many NHS workers have caught the disease and that they may be at greater risk than first feared.

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Experts have called for better PPE and for improved hospital ventilation as a result of a new study
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Experts have called for better PPE and for improved hospital ventilation as a result of a new studyCredit: PA:Press Association

The new data could explain why NHS staff are so likely to be struck down with coronavirus,

Hospital workers are four times more likely to contract Covid-19 than the general population.

Experts have called for better PPE and for improved hospital ventilation as a result of by the University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust.

The access to higher-level PPE - such as FFP3 respirator masks - was based on an assumption that ICU wards were more dangerous.

It is because treatments that required continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in order to support a patients' breathing generated large amounts of particles.

Staff who work in other areas suchs as care homes and GP surgeries are isused looser-fitting surgical masks that offer little protection against tiny particules while blocking larger Covid-carrying ones.

The , which has not yet been peer-reviewed, shows the risk is bigger than originally thought.

Dr James Dodd, a consultant senior lecturer in respiratory medicine at North Bristol Lung Centre and the University of Bristol, who led the study, said: "CPAP is not aerosol-generating – in fact, the aerosols are reduced compared to just normal breathing and speaking.

"However, cough really is a potent generator of aerosols."

He added: "[The risk] appears to be far greater than what we would have assumed."

Rose Gallagher, from the Royal College of Nursing, said: “This research adds yet more weight to our calls for greater protection for all health and care workers.”

At least 883 health and care workers have died of Covid between March and December in England and Wales last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the paper: "The safety of NHS and social care staff has always been our top priority and we continue to work tirelessly to deliver PPE to those people who protect us all on the frontline.

"In response to the new Covid-19 variants that have emerged in recent weeks, the UK Infection Prevention Control Cell conducted a comprehensive review of evidence and concluded that the current guidance and PPE recommendations remain appropriate.

"New and emerging evidence is continually monitored and reviewed by government in conjunction with our world-leading scientists."

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