On airborne transmission and control of SARS-Cov-2

M. Yao, L. Zhang, J. Ma, Liantong Zhou

Science of The Total Environment, 2020

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic is creating a havoc situation across the globe that modern society has ever seen. Despite of their paramount importance, the transmission routes of SARS-Cov-2 still remain debated among various sectors. Evidences compiled here strongly suggest that the COVID-19 could be transmitted via air in inadequately ventilated environments that are housing the infected by SARS-Cov-2. Existing experimental data showed that coronavirus survival was negatively impacted by ozone, high temperature and low humidity. Here, regression analysis showed that the spread of SARS-Cov-2 was reduced by increasing ambient ozone concentration level (48.83–94.67 μg/m3) (p-value = 0.039) and decreasing relative humidity (23.33–82.67%) (p-value = 0.002) and temperature (−13.17-19 °C) (p-value = 0.003) observed for Chinese cities during Jan-March 2020. Besides using these environmental implications, social distancing and wearing a mask are strongly encouraged to maximize the fight against the COVID-19 transmission. At no other time than now are the scientists in various disciplines around the world badly needed by the society to collectively confront this disastrous pandemic.

Cited by 67 publications.

Field of study: Geography

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139178