Risk assessment of COVID-19 airborne infection during hybrid learning

View ORCID ProfileLuis Alfredo Anchordoqui, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Thomas C Paul

doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.24.20200782

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

Abstract

Converging lines of evidence seem to indicate that SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, can be transmitted from person-to-person via aerosols that waft through the air and accumulate over time. The airborne nature of the virus could be a threat in indoor spaces in general and in particular for in-class education. We provide an assessment of the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection during a 7-hour school day in elementary schools. We show that existing data are insufficient to establish a low (below 1\%) probability of infection with high accuracy. The use of facemasks and social distancing could significantly decrease this risk.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Funding Statement

Research were supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, NSF Grant PHY-1620661 (L.A.A.), and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, DOE Grant DE- FG02 93ER45487 (E.M.C.). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF or DOE.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.24.20200782v1