Indoor air changes and potential Implications for SARS-CoV-2 transmission (April 16 2021)

Summary

Buildings have been associated with spread of infectious diseases, such as outbreaks of measles, influenza, and Legionella. With SARS-CoV-2, the majority of outbreaks involving three or more people have been linked with time spent indoors, and evidence confirms that far-field airborne transmission (defined as within-room but beyond 6 feet) of SARS-CoV-2 is occurring.

In this paper, Allen et al. discuss how controlling concentrations of indoor respiratory aerosols to reduce airborne transmission of infectious agents is critical and can be achieved through source control (masking, physical distancing) and engineering controls (ventilation and filtration).