Schoolkids hiding in the back corner of the classroom are sitting in a safe part of the room to avoid covid, study claims
- U.S. studies look at the spread of coronavirus particles in classrooms
- Found windows remove 70% of all particles smaller than a micron
- Air conditioning removes half the particles released while exhaling and talking
- The authors also say that the back corner has the fewest particles in the whole room
The back corner of the classroom has long been the area of naughty children, but avoiding catching the coronavirus may also be the safest place in the room, an American study claims.
The epidemic has hit schools hard, forcing many to close, cancel exams and change their teaching methods.
And with windows and air conditioning being considered as effective solutions, much research has focused on how to reduce the risk for both staff and students.
New research supports this, but also reveals that the lowest concentrations of coronavirus particles in a typical classroom are often in the posterior corner.
The back corner of the classroom has long been the area of naughty children, but may be the safest place in the room to avoid catching coronavirus, claims a U.S. study (file photo).
Researchers at the University of New Mexico say this information could allow high-risk students to be placed in a lower exposure zone.
In a study published today in the journal Physics Flids, scientists used computer desktops to look at how open windows, interactive screens and air conditioning on each desk affect the spread of aerosols and droplets.
Khaled Talat, co-author of the study, told Mailline Naline that the specific location of a room’s safe zone depends on its specific layout and ventilation.
But the researchers used industry-standard air conditioning systems and rooms of ‘real dimensions and size’ to make the findings as comprehensive as possible.
Researchers at the University of New Mexico say a low concentration zone and rear angles can be used to keep high-risk students away from the highest risk (file photo).
There are some changes in classrooms that may affect quantitative findings but there should be qualitative findings overall. [true for most classrooms], ‘Explains PhD candidate Mr. Talat.
The researchers looked at how aerosol particles were released into the air by talking, coughing, laughing or sneezing in the classroom.
“When the windows are open, exhale smaller than a micrometre in size. About 70 percent of the particles are expelled from the system,” says Mr. Vilat.
“And air conditioning removes icles and 0% of the particles released when you exhale and talk, but the rest accumulates on the inside surface of the room and can enter the air.”
However, when these tried and tested methods were found to be re-employable, the team found the screens in front of the desk to be effective as well.
‘Screens do not directly enclose 1-micron particles, but they do affect the local air flow area near the source, which alters the micro-pathway,’ Mr Talat adds.
‘Their effectiveness depends on the condition of the source in terms of air conditioning diffusers.’
Face mask 23 times creates a cloud of coronavirus particles created by a small cough
Wearing a face mask reduces the size of clouds of infectious coronavirus particles created by coughing by up to 23 times, a study has found.
Researchers in India calculated how cough clouds spread and how different types of coverings could control their spread.
The team found that the surgical facemask reduced the cloud volume seven-fold without reducing it – while the N95 respirator cut the volume 23-fold.
Rajneesh Bhardwaj, author and engineer of the paper at the Indian Institute of Technology, said, “We have found that anything that reduces the distance traveled by a cloud … should greatly reduce the area where the dot spreads after coughing.”
This, he added, in turn greatly reduces the ‘likelihood of infection’.
Researchers have found that a surgical face mask reduces the volume of a cloud seven times (green line) below a mask (red line) – while the N95 respirator cuts 23-fold (blue line).
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