New research from the University of California, Davis, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai indicates that the COVID-19 virus may be able to spread through the air on dust and other airborne particles, not just exhaled, coughed-out or sneezed-out water droplets.
The research was done using guinea pigs, but not in the way you might expect – it wasn’t the effect on the guinea pigs that was being measured, but rather the way that virus-laden dust can move around an indoor space where a guinea pig is active, asleep, or dead. Viruses that were planted on particles which became airborne were subsequently able to stay alive and spread infection.
A summary of the research published by UC Davis is available here, and the more detailed article published by the researchers in Nature Communications is available here.
Even before this study came out this week, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) was encouraging building owners to upgrade the efficiency of the filters serving their HVAC systems as one of several means to limit the spread of COVID-19. The new study adds more support to the idea of improving filtration.
In addition to being a leading HVAC system cleaner in greater Chicagoland, Airways distributes MERV-13 rated filters and other high efficiency filters which trap 90% of airborne particles as small as small as 0.3 microns, controlling dust, debris, lint, mold spores and other harmful particulates – which could be carrying the virus – in the air in your occupied space. Let us know your sizes and quantity needs and we will turn around a price quote in a day or less.
Stay safe!