The arrival of winter may soar the cases of the coronavirus as people will prefer staying indoors due to the falling temperatures, as per the Science Alert report.

The study speculated that as the number of cases rises, the risk to anyone who spends time indoors rises as well.

According to the author of the research, larger spaces, such as classrooms, will reduce the viral load. However, the ventilation system plays the most vital role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

The study

For the study, the team of researchers injected aerosol particles similar in size to those from humans into a room and then monitored them with sensors.

The team also used a 30-foot by 26-foot university classroom designed to accommodate 30 students that had a ventilation system that met the recommended standards.

Researchers noted that as soon as they disperse the virus into the air, it reached all the way to the back of the room within 10 to 15 minutes.

However, because of active ventilation in the room, the concentrations at the back, about 20 feet (6.1 meters) from the source, were about one-tenth of the concentrations close to the source.

The researchers, hence, believe that with appropriate ventilation, the highest risk for getting Covid-19 could be limited to a small number of people near the infected speaker.

Risk factors

As the time spent indoors with an infected speaker increases, however, the risk extends to the entire room, even with proper ventilation.

The researchers further noted that not all parts of a room are at equal risk. The corners of the room will likely have a low air exchange. Hence, the virus can persist there for a longer period of time.

They also wrote: “Being close to an air exit vent could mean that airborne particles from the rest of the room could wash over you.”

This can only be avoided by increasing the air exchange rate or adding other engineering controls such as filtration units. Opening windows will also increase the effective air exchange rate.

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