Chennai: Researchers have developed a new online tool that can calculate the risk of Covid-19 transmission in poorly-ventilated places showing that when two people are in such spaces and neither is wearing a mask prolonged talking is far more likely to spread the novel coronavirus than a short cough. The research published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A also shows that the virus spreads further than two meters in seconds in poorly-ventilated spaces. The researchers from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London in the UK noted that when speaking we exhale smaller droplets or aerosols which spread easily around a room and accumulate if ventilation is not adequate. In contrast coughing expels more large droplets which are more likely to settle on surfaces after they are emitted they said. Scientists agree that the vast majority of Covid-19 cases are spread through indoor transmission whether via aerosols or droplets. The researchers noted that it only takes a matter of seconds for aerosols to spread over two meters when masks are not worn implying that physical distancing in the absence of ventilation is not sufficient to provide safety for long exposure times. However when masks of any kind are worn they slow the breaths momentum and filter a portion of the exhaled droplets in turn reducing the amount of virus in aerosols that can spread through the space they said. The team used mathematical models that show how the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes Covid-19 spreads in different indoor spaces depending on the size occupancy ventilation and whether masks are working. Based on the results of their models the researchers developed Airborne.cam a free open-source tool that helps users understand how ventilation and other measures affect the risk of indoor transmission and how that risk changes over time. The team used characteristics of the virus such as its decay rate and viral load in infected individuals to estimate the risk of transmission in an indoor setting due to normal speech or a short cough by an infectious person. They showed that for instance the infection risk after speaking for one hour in a typical lecture room was high but the risk could be decreased significantly with adequate ventilation. “The tool can help people use fluid mechanics to make better choices and adapt their day-to-day activities and surroundings in order to suppress risk both for themselves and for others” said study co-author Savvas Gkantonas who led the development of the app with Pedro de Oliveira from Cambridges Department of Engineering. The researchers quantified the vital role of ventilation in the spread of Covid-19 finding that in poorly-ventilated spaces the virus spreads further than two meters in seconds and is far more likely to spread through prolonged talking than through coughing.

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