to sneeze, turns out the elbow sneeze releases 3

many more germs than you may have thought. 4

Les Trent says the smarter move is to sneeze 5

into a tissue. 6

We all know sneezes and coughs spread germs, 7

but did you ever wonder how far those tiny droplets can go? 8

Scientists at MIT have studied the distances. 9

So we set up a similar demonstration. 10

Instead of a natural sneeze, we used a spray bottle 11

filled with a special florescent paint. 12

Our producers suited up and wore protective face masks. 13

Now no one here is sick, but out of an abundance 14

of caution, we are going to simulate, along with producer 15

Katie here, a sneeze, and how far germs can travel 16

when someone sneezes. 17

Let's bring in our subject at the four foot mark, 18

right there, ready? 19

In three, two, one. 20

Ah-choo. 21

Watch as those tiny neon droplets fly out in slow motion. 22

Our producer under a black light, is splattered. 23

Look at this, potential germ splatter, from that sneeze 24

all over his body. 25

So this is why it's so important to cover up 26

when you sneeze. 27

Would the spray reach him from twice as far away? 28

I'm gonna simulate this sneeze now from eight feet. 29

Ah-choo. 30

Back under the black light. 31

Look at the splatter we see from our simulation, 32

especially up here around the face. 33

Less splatter, but still lots of direct hits. 34

An unrestricted sneeze can come out at over 100 35

miles an hour, and actually it's been clocked 36

at 200 miles an hour. 37

Dr. Jack Karavanas, Professor on Environmental 38

Public Health Sciences at NYU, says in an office setting, 39

some sneezes and coughs can reach eight desks away. 40

Am I safe this distance from you? 41

Absolutely not. 42

How about here? 43

Nope, keep going, keep going. 44

Wow. Around there. 45

In a quiet environment, a sneeze coming out 46

can actually dry up and travel that distance. 47

We should point out according to medical experts, 48

sneezing is not a symptom of coronavirus. 49

But it is one way the virus could be transmitted. 50

(Inside Edition theme song)