The temperature of the air, the study said, had no impact on the likelihood of coronavirus infection.
Coronaviruses lose most of their infectivity soon after exhalation and are less likely to infect longer distances, a study from the University of Bristol’s Aerosol Research Center shows.
The researchers found that the virus lost 90% of its ability to spread 20 minutes after being airborne, and most of that loss occurred in the first five minutes of its exposure to the air, according to the study. study, simulating how the virus behaves after exhaling.
With several countries opening debate in Europe about the circulating stage of the virus, insights into how the virus moves through the air will help guide containment measures. The results of this study, which have not been peer-reviewed, reinforce the view that the virus is primarily transmitted over short distances, providing new support for social distancing and mask-wearing as a means of limit infection.
Investigators in the UK focused on three of the earlier coronavirus variants, excluding the most recent omicron, but said they did not expect other circulating variants to behave differently.
“As you move further away, not only does the aerosol get diluted, but there is less infectious virus because the virus has lost its ability to infect [as a result of time],” said Jonathan Reid, director of the research centre, in an interview with the Guardian, which first reported on the study on Tuesday.
The findings indicate that viral particles quickly dry out after they leave the humid and carbon dioxide-rich environment of the lungs, limiting their ability to infect others. Air humidity is considered to be the determining factor in the rate of inactivation of these particles, with bathrooms having slower winds than offices.
At less than 50% humidity, similar to dry office air, the virus loses half its ability to spread within 5 seconds. When humidity rises to 90%, similar to that in a bathroom, the virus loses its infectivity more slowly, with more than half of the particles still infectious after five minutes, the study found.
The study said the temperature of the air had no effect on the virus’s ability to infect.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
