To date, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that larger respiratory droplets expelled when infected people cough or sneeze are the primary means of transmitting the coronavirus, reports Science, but the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 could be airborne implies that recommendations about mask wearing in public may need to be revised.

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A report from the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released on April 1 states that based on current research, SARS-CoV-2 may be spread through aerosols. The letter cites a recent study at the University of Nebraska Medical Center that found “widespread evidence of viral RNA in isolation rooms where patients with SARS-CoV-2 were receiving care” in air and surface samples. Even air collectors that were more than 6 feet away from patients detected the RNA, calling into question whether current social distancing guidelines are sufficient to prevent the spread of the disease.

“In the mind of scientists working on this, there’s absolutely no doubt that the virus spreads in the air,” aerosol scientist Lidia Morawska of the Queensland University of Technology in Australia tells Nature. “This is a no-brainer.”