Comparing Strategies for the Mitigation of SARS-CoV-2 Airborne Infection Risk in Tiered Auditorium Venues

Overview

Journal Commun Eng

Publisher Springer Nature

Date 2024 Nov 9

PMID 39521872

Authors

S Mareike Geisler

Kevin H Lausch

Felix Hehnen

Isabell Schulz

Ulrich Kertzscher

Martin Kriegel

C Oliver Paschereit

Sebastian Schimek

Umit Hasirci

Gerrid Brockmann

Annette Moter

Karolin Senftleben

Stefan Moritz

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that reliable risk assessment of venues is still challenging and resulted in the indiscriminate closure of many venues worldwide. Therefore, this study used an experimental, numerical and analytical approach to investigate the airborne transmission risk potential of differently ventilated, sized and shaped venues. The data were used to assess the magnitude of effect of various mitigation measures and to develop recommendations. Here we show that, in general, positions in the near field of an emission source were at high risk, while the risk of infection from positions in the far field varied depending on the ventilation strategy. Occupancy, airflow rate, residence time, virus variants, activity level and face masks affected the individual and global infection risk in all venues. The global infection risk was lowest for the displacement ventilation case, making it the most effective ventilation strategy for keeping airborne transmission and the number of secondary cases low, compared to mixing or natural ventilation.

References

Qiu G, Spillmann M, Tang J, Zhao Y, Tao Y, Zhang X . On-Site Quantification and Infection Risk Assessment of Airborne SARS-CoV-2 Virus Via a Nanoplasmonic Bioaerosol Sensing System in Healthcare Settings. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022; 9(35):e2204774. PMC: 9762303. DOI: 10.1002/advs.202204774. View

Schade W, Reimer V, Seipenbusch M, Willer U, Hubner E . Viral aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from simulated human emission in a concert hall. Int J Infect Dis. 2021; 107:12-14. PMC: 8056846. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.04.028. View

Coleman K, Tay D, Tan K, Ong S, Than T, Koh M . Viral Load of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Respiratory Aerosols Emitted by Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) While Breathing, Talking, and Singing. Clin Infect Dis. 2021; 74(10):1722-1728. PMC: 8436389. DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciab691. View

Moritz S, Gottschick C, Horn J, Popp M, Langer S, Klee B . The risk of indoor sports and culture events for the transmission of COVID-19. Nat Commun. 2021; 12(1):5096. PMC: 8376924. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25317-9. View

Huang J, Hao T, Liu X, Jones P, Ou C, Liang W . Airborne transmission of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 in an auditorium. Build Environ. 2022; 219:109212. PMC: 9128309. DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109212. View

Zhou Y, Ji S . Experimental and numerical study on the transport of droplet aerosols generated by occupants in a fever clinic. Build Environ. 2020; 187:107402. PMC: 7598448. DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.107402. View

Sun C, Zhai Z . The efficacy of social distance and ventilation effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 transmission. Sustain Cities Soc. 2020; 62:102390. PMC: 7357531. DOI: 10.1016/j.scs.2020.102390. View

Arienzo A, Gallo V, Tomassetti F, Pitaro N, Pitaro M, Antonini G . A narrative review of alternative transmission routes of COVID 19: what we know so far. Pathog Glob Health. 2023; 117(8):681-695. PMC: 10614718. DOI: 10.1080/20477724.2023.2228048. View

Foster A, Kinzel M . Estimating COVID-19 exposure in a classroom setting: A comparison between mathematical and numerical models. Phys Fluids (1994). 2021; 33(2):021904. PMC: 7975712. DOI: 10.1063/5.0040755. View

10.

Tupper P, Boury H, Yerlanov M, Colijn C . Event-specific interventions to minimize COVID-19 transmission. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020; 117(50):32038-32045. PMC: 7749284. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2019324117. View

11.

He Q, Niu J, Gao N, Zhu T, Wu J . CFD study of exhaled droplet transmission between occupants under different ventilation strategies in a typical office room. Build Environ. 2020; 46(2):397-408. PMC: 7119025. DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2010.08.003. View

12.

Dai H, Zhao B . Association of the infection probability of COVID-19 with ventilation rates in confined spaces. Build Simul. 2020; 13(6):1321-1327. PMC: 7398856. DOI: 10.1007/s12273-020-0703-5. View

13.

Siebler L, Calandri M, Rathje T, Stergiaropoulos K . Experimental Methods of Investigating Airborne Indoor Virus-Transmissions Adapted to Several Ventilation Measures. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(18). PMC: 9517214. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191811300. View

14.

Villafruela J, Olmedo I, Berlanga F, Ruiz de Adana M . Assessment of displacement ventilation systems in airborne infection risk in hospital rooms. PLoS One. 2019; 14(1):e0211390. PMC: 6353581. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211390. View

15.

Chen P, Bobrovitz N, Premji Z, Koopmans M, Fisman D, Gu F . Heterogeneity in transmissibility and shedding SARS-CoV-2 via droplets and aerosols. Elife. 2021; 10. PMC: 8139838. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.65774. View

16.

Bhagat R, Davies Wykes M, Dalziel S, Linden P . Effects of ventilation on the indoor spread of COVID-19. J Fluid Mech. 2021; 903:F1. PMC: 7520710. DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2020.720. View

17.

Wang J, Chen X, Guo Z, Zhao S, Huang Z, Zhuang Z . Superspreading and heterogeneity in transmission of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19: A systematic review. Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2021; 19:5039-5046. PMC: 8409018. DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.08.045. View

18.

Lommel M, Froese V, Sieber M, Jentzsch M, Bierewirtz T, Hasirci U . Novel measurement system for respiratory aerosols and droplets in indoor environments. Indoor Air. 2021; 31(6):1860-1873. PMC: 8242391. DOI: 10.1111/ina.12860. View

19.

Qian H, Li Y, Nielsen P, Hyldgaard C, Wong T, Chwang A . Dispersion of exhaled droplet nuclei in a two-bed hospital ward with three different ventilation systems. Indoor Air. 2006; 16(2):111-28. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0668.2005.00407.x. View

20.

Asadi S, Wexler A, Cappa C, Barreda S, Bouvier N, Ristenpart W . Aerosol emission and superemission during human speech increase with voice loudness. Sci Rep. 2019; 9(1):2348. PMC: 6382806. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38808-z. View