Below is a link to a study in relation to the bird flu (2009). While the viruses mutate and are all a bit different, the envelope that protects them are all pretty similar. And yes - the are aerosolized.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2843947/
ABSTRACT:
Over the past few years, prompted by pandemic preparedness initiatives, the debate over the modes of transmission of influenza has been rekindled and several reviews have appeared.
Arguments supporting an important role for aerosol transmission that were reviewed included prolonged survival of the virus in aerosol suspensions, demonstration of the low infectious dose required for aerosol transmission in human volunteers, and clinical and epidemiological observations were disentanglements of large droplets and aerosol transmission was possible.
Since these reviews were published, several new studies have been done and generated new data. These include direct demonstration of the presence of influenza viruses in aerosolized droplets from the tidal breathing of infected persons and in the air of an emergency department; the establishment of the guinea pig model for influenza transmission, where it was shown that aerosol transmission is important and probably modulated by temperature and humidity; the demonstration of some genetic determinants of airborne transmission of influenza viruses as assessed using the ferret model; and mathematical modelling studies that strongly support the aerosol route.
These recent results and their implication for infection control of influenza are discussed in this review.
"Increasing evidences point towards a role for aerosol transmission in the spread of influenza, at least over short distance where exposure to both aerosol and large droplets occurs. In most settings where there is adequate ventilation, long-range transmission does not appear to occur frequently. This distinction of ‘short-range aerosol transmission’ is not merely academic; aerosolized particles would readily penetrate or circumvent ordinary surgical masks, and penetration of aerosolized influenza viruses into the LRT where they can initiate infection would account well for the association of aerosol transmission and severe disease."
and:
"aerosol particles are rapidly diluted, and are removed by ventilation; the infectious risk is critically affected by parameters such as the infectious dose, the amount of infectious particles aerosolized at the source, and the rate of biological decay of the infectious agent. For influenza, a quick ‘back of the envelope’ type of calculation suggests that even for patients with a high viral load the amount of viruses aerosolized in a single sneeze is in fact quite small and would be rapidly diluted as the aerosol disperses; yet, because the infectious dose by aerosol is so small, the infectious risk in proximity of the patient would be significant (Tellier 2007). "
Based on this article, the risk from aerosols can reduced by adequate ventilation and distance.
I think the is a good argument for why social distancing is important, and the use of masks. Masks to help train people to not touch their mouth and nose and to prevent droplets from coming into contact others, and social distancing to help reduce the probability of COVID-19.
But there needs to be research specifically on COVID-19 for aerosol transmission.