On airborne transmission and control of SARS-Cov-2

Yao, Maosheng; Zhang, Lu; Ma, Jianxin; Zhou, Lian

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic is creating a havoc situation across the globe that modern society has ever seen. Despite of their paramount importance, the transmission routes of SARS-Cov-2 still remain debated among various sectors. Evidences compiled here strongly suggest that the COVID-19 could be transmitted via air in inadequately ventilated environments that are housing the infected by SARS-Cov-2. Existing experimental data showed that coronavirus survival was negatively impacted by ozone, high temperature and low humidity. Here, regression analysis showed that the spread of SARS-Cov-2 was reduced by increasing ambient ozone concentration level (48.83–94.67 μg/m3) (p-value = 0.039) and decreasing relative humidity (23.33–82.67%) (p-value = 0.002) and temperature (−13.17-19 °C) (p-value = 0.003) observed for Chinese cities during Jan-March 2020. Besides using these environmental implications, social distancing and wearing a mask are strongly encouraged to maximize the fight against the COVID-19 transmission. At no other time than now are the scientists in various disciplines around the world badly needed by the society to collectively confront this disastrous pandemic.