Winter is coming - how can we stop COVID-19 spreading indoors?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-03-17 11:01

International

CC-0

As winter approaches in the global south, UK researchers have summarised what we know about the spread of COVID-19 indoors, and suggested ways to reduce transmission. They focus on the three ways COVID-19 is transmitted - through droplets, through contact and through the air. Droplet transmission can be reduced by wearing face masks and social distancing, while contact-based transmission can be curbed by hand and surface cleaning, they say. The best way to reduce airborne transmission is with good ventilation, they add, which is particularly important in crowded indoor spaces or spaces where people are active such as gyms.

News release

From: The Royal Society

Evidence synthesis - The ventilation of buildings and other mitigating measures for COVID-19: a focus on wintertime

The year 2020 has seen the emergence of a global pandemic as a result of the disease COVID-19. This report reviews knowledge of the tranmission of COVID-19 indoors, examines the evidence for mitigating measures, and considers the implications for wintertime with a focus on ventilation.

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research The Royal Society, Web page The URL will go live at some point after the embargo ends

Journal/
conference: Proceedings of the Royal Society A

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Imperial College London, UK

Funder: No funding has been received for this article.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.