Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, health experts have emphasized how important it is to wash your hands, disinfect surfaces and cough into your arm or sleeve. But its hard to avoid all methods of transmission, so much so that the vast majority of Americans are taking lockdown, quarantine or social distancing measures.

That said, most of us will have to leave the house at some point during this outbreak to go to the pharmacy, the grocery store or the doctor, for example. So where, then, can you pick up the virus?

According to new research published in The New England Journal of Medicine, scientists were able to show that aerosolized (that is, airborne) particles could spread the novel coronavirus. This means theres possible airborne transmission of the illness, at least in certain settings.

Does respiratory droplet sound a lot like aerosolized particle? If youve heard both terms tossed around, heres the difference and a breakdown of what mode of transmission is the most contagious.

Particle vs. droplet: Which is more infectious?