COVID-19 virus can travel up to 20 feet: Study

LOS ANGELES: In a recent study on SAARS-CoV2, scientists have modelled the spread of virus in form of infectious droplets from sneezing, coughing and breathing under different conditions, and found out that the COVID-19 virus can spread up to three times further than previously said in cold and humid weather.

According to the researchers involved in the study including scientists from University of California, droplets that carry COVID-19 virus can travel up to 20 feet, which make the social distancing norm of maintaining a six feet distance insufficient to contain the spread of virus.

Based on earlier research, the scientist said that as many as 40,000 respiratory droplets can be generated by coughing, sneezing and even normally talking, with initial speeds ranging from a few metres per second to more than a hundred meters per second.

Important is that the study which is yet to be peer reviewed, published as a preprint in medrXiv, scientists and researchers used a mathematical model to explore the heat transfer, evaporation and projectile motion of respiratory droplets under different conditions – humidity, temperature and ventilation conditions.

The scientist found that the transmission of COVID-19 via respiratory droplets happen in two ways short range droplets and long range aerosol exposure.

Scientists mentioned in the study that, while large respiratory droplets settle onto a surface with a limited spread due to gravity, smaller droplets gets evaporated easily to form aerosol particles that can carry virus and float in the air.

The researchers also mentions in the study that different weather conditions promote different ways for transmission via droplets, in low temperature and high humidity weather virus can be spread via droplet contact transmission, while high temperature and low humidity conditions promotes small aerosol-particle formation.

The scientist said that their model suggest the social distancing norm of six feet recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could be inefficient in different weather conditions.

The scientists also warned that the current pandemic may not stop in summer season without proper precautions as there is an increasing chance of aerosol transmission in countries with high temperatures.

The range of virus via large droplets is limited to short distance, since they settle on surfaces before drying due to gravity. If there droplets lands on the upper body of a person, the virus can easily enter the person body via face touching and eye rubbing which can be prevented by practising social distancing, the researchers explained.

However, citing the limitations of the study, the scientists and researchers said the survivability of the virus under different weather conditions remains unknown.

“To this end, the impact of different weather conditions on the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 is still inconclusive,” the researchers noted in the study.