As students return to school, parents and teachers become increasingly concerned about how the coronavirus could spread – especially in buildings with insufficient ventilation.
John Lednicky is studying viruses at the University of Florida. “There was a lot of controversy about SARS-CoV-2 being transmitted if not transmitted via air routes,” Lednicky told CBS News.
Airborne Analyzes In a hospital room, Lednicky’s team found infectious virus can spread through the air – up to 16 feet away from an infected patient – via small droplets called aerosols.
“Oh, this is the smoking gun everyone asked for!” said Linsey Marr, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech who studies how viruses travel through the air.
“We’re talking about a virus that is present in very small droplets, pits we call aerosols that can travel much farther through the air and stay in the air for minutes to hours at a time,” Marr explained.
This is important because until recently, attention has been focused on respiratory spread of the virus within 6 feet.
Aerosols can be produced simply by talking. A simulation in the classroom shows how the spread of the virus is significantly reduced by simply placing ventilation next to a teacher.
“Once we recognize that virus is transmitted through aerosols, we can then take steps to address that and reduce that risk,” Marr said.
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