A consensus statement from physicians and scientists with a range of expertise in the areas of respiratory infection and aerosols, to clarify the discussion surrounding a recent preprint (https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.01.08.22268944v1) describing the aerosol dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) which generated controversy in mainstream and social media and among infection prevention and control specialists. The study by Oswin et al. is complex and, as such, easily misinterpreted. It must be understood in the context provided by studies of human aerosol emission rates and viral loads in exhaled breath of infected persons, air movement and aerosol transport indoors, previous studies of airborne survival, and epidemiologic studies and outbreak investigations.