--- title: CDC Erases Message About Airborne COVID-19 description: New language acknowledging that the virus that causes COVID-19 is airborne disappeared from a CDC website Monday. canonical: https://time.com/5891210/the-cdc-posted-but-then-suddenly-deleted-critical-guidance-about-how-covid-19-actually-spreads/ author: Alejandro de la Garza article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-09-21T19:51:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T09:14:02.663Z article:section: Health og:title: CDC Erases Message About Airborne COVID-19 og:description: The reversal may increase public skepticism about the agency's pandemic messaging og:url: https://time.com/5891210/the-cdc-posted-but-then-suddenly-deleted-critical-guidance-about-how-covid-19-actually-spreads/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a9a20fa1a114190/698a1271656a3f265abda855/cdc-covid-19-airborne.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: CDC Covid 19 Airborne og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: CDC Erases Message About Airborne COVID-19 twitter:description: The reversal may increase public skepticism about the agency's pandemic messaging twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5a9a20fa1a114190/698a1271656a3f265abda855/cdc-covid-19-airborne.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The CDC Posted—But Then Suddenly Deleted—Critical Guidance About How COVID-19 Actually Spreads > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Sep 21, 2020 7:51 PM UTC  U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Robert Redfield attends at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee reviewing coronavirus response efforts on September 16, 2020 in Washington, D.C. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Robert Redfield attends at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee reviewing coronavirus response efforts on September 16, 2020 in Washington, D.C. Getty Images—2020 Pool  by [Alejandro de la Garza](https://time.com/author/alejandro-de-la-garza/)  ## Alejandro de la Garza Sep 21, 2020 7:51 PM UTC New language acknowledging that the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads more easily than once believed disappeared from a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website Monday just days after being published, replaced with a message saying the previously uploaded information was a mistakenly posted “draft version of proposed changes.” The now-missing language, which was posted Friday to a [page](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html) titled “How COVID-19 Spreads,” cited small droplets called aerosols as the most common method of viral spread—reversing the agency’s previous stance that the virus was mostly spread by larger droplets that typically don’t travel as far. The move was lauded by [scientists](https://time.com/5883081/covid-19-transmitted-aerosols/) who have for months argued that aerosols account for a significant share of coronavirus transmission. ([Mounting pressure from experts](https://time.com/5863220/airborne-coronavirus-transmission/) led the World Health Organization to acknowledge the threat of aerosol spread this past July.) “CDC is currently updating its recommendations regarding airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19),” reads a note on the altered page. “Once this process has been completed, the update language will be posted.” In the original change, the CDC cited “growing evidence that droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond 6 feet.” It also cautioned against spending time at poorly ventilated indoor locations. Now [the page cites](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/how-covid-spreads.html) risk of spread “between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet)”—contradicting the public health guidance posted Friday. The CDC’s confusing about-face comes amid [reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/12/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-politics-cdc.html) that political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, had been influencing the agency’s weekly health reports to make the U.S. pandemic situation seem better than it is in reality. Monday’s reversal may also increase public skepticism about the agency’s messaging on COVID-19 more broadly. 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