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Coronavirus loses much of its potential to infect immediately after being breathed, according to research from the University of Bristol’s Aerosol Research Centre. It’s also less likely to be contagious over extended distances.
According to the study, the virus loses 90% of its contagious capacity 20 minutes after becoming airborne, with the majority of that loss occurring in the first five minutes after it reaches the air. This mimics how the virus acts after exhaling.
With several European countries considering an endemic phase of the virus, understanding how the virus spreads via the air will aid in the development of containment strategies. The findings of this study, which were not peer-reviewed, support the idea that the virus is primarily spread over short distances, offering new evidence for social distancing and mask-wearing as ways to prevent infections.
Researchers in the United Kingdom focused on three older coronavirus variations, excluding the most recent omicron, but said they don’t expect any circulating versions to behave any differently.
“Not only is the aerosol diluted as you walk further away, but there’s also less infectious virus because the virus has lost infectivity [as a result of time],” Jonathan Reid, the research center’s director, told the Guardian, which reported the storey on Tuesday.
The findings suggest that once viral particles leave the wet and carbon dioxide-rich environment of the lungs, they quickly dry out, limiting their capacity to infect others. The rate at which these particles deactivate was shown to be influenced by air humidity, with shower rooms experiencing a slower deactivation than offices.
In five seconds, the virus lost half of its capacity to spread at humidity levels below 50%, which is similar to the dry air common in workplaces. The virus lost infectiousness more slowly when humidity levels reached 90%, similar to those found in shower rooms, according to the study, with more than half of the particles remained contagious after five minutes.
According to the study, the temperature of the air had no effect on virus infectiousness.
