Aerodynamic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in two Wuhan hospitals

Corresponding authors: Zhi Ning, Yu Chen, Kin-fai Ho, Haidong Kan, Qingyan Fu, Ke Lan

Affiliations: State Key Laboratory of Virology, Modern Virology Research Center, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, P. R. China; Division of Environment and Sustainability, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, P. R. China; Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center, Shanghai, P. R. China; School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, P. R. China; JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P. R. China.

Publication date: This article was published on April 27, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2271-3

Highlights

The researchers investigated the aerodynamic nature of SARS-CoV-2 by measuring viral RNA in aerosols in different areas of two Wuhan hospitals during the outbreak of COVID-19 in February and March 2020. The concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in aerosols that was detected in isolation wards and ventilated patient rooms was very low, but it was higher in the toilet areas used by the patients. Levels of airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the most public areas was undetectable, except in two areas that were prone to crowding; this increase was possibly due to individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the crowd. They also found that some medical staff areas initially had high concentrations of viral RNA with aerosol size distributions that showed peaks in the submicrometre and/or supermicrometre regions; however, these levels were reduced to undetectable levels after implementation of rigorous sanitization procedures.

Nomination Reasons

The data presented in this article indicate that room ventilation, open space, sanitization of protective apparel, and proper use and disinfection of toilet areas can effectively limit the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in aerosols, which is a vital supplementary information for the pandemic containment.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article has been nominated for Distinguished Research Awards, you can visit the website below and vote for the nominated publications:

https://www.molecularcloud.org/awards-for-distinguished-research.html.