Preprint: 12% increase in relative humidity reduced Covid aerosol viral load by 50%

Coronavirus, Infection, Transmission

A study in which volunteers with COVID-19 were placed in an experimental chamber and monitored for aerosol emissions has found that a 12% increase in relative humidity reduced aerosol viral load by 50%. Humidifiers could help reduce airborne transmission.

 

Preprint: Quantifying environmental mitigation of aerosol viral load in a controlled chamber with participants diagnosed with COVID-19

 

** The whole Twitter thread is interesting, with some pointing out that high humidity may turn the virus aerosol into droplets, which then fall to onto surfaces, and there is some evidence for this in the paper. **



From 17th March 2020, during our first (and so far only) infection by Sars-Cov-2:

 

 

 



 

 

New study shows that both temperature and humidity play a key role in the survival of Sars-Cov-2

 

 

 

Image by Juraj Varga from Pixabay

** This post was originally published on January 8, 2022 **