nature
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2271-3
Accelerated Article Preview
Aerodynamic analysis ofSARS-CoV-2 in two Wuhan hospitals IEW Received: 14 March 2020 Jing Cai, Dane Westerdahl, Xinjin Liu, Ke Xu, Kin-fai Ho, Haidong Kan, Qingyan Fu & Yuan Liu, Zhi Ning, Yu Chen, Ming Guo, Yingle Liu, Nirmal Kumar Gali, Li Sun, Yusen Duan Accepted: 20 April 2020 Accelerated Article Preview Published Ke Lan online 27 April 2020 Cite this article as: Liu, Y. et al This is a PDF file of a peer-reviewed paper that has been accepted for publication. Aerodynamic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in is providing this early version of the typeset paper as a service to our authors and Although unedited, the content has been subjected to preliminary formatting. Nature Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020- two Wuhan hospitals. 2271-3 (2020). paper is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process readers.The text and figureswillundergo copyediting and a proofreviewbefore the apply. errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers ACCELERATED ARTIC
Nature I www.nature.com
Article Aerodynamic analysis ofSARS-CoV-2 in two Wuhan hospitals
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2271-3
Yuan Liu1,6Zhi Ning2,6, Yu Chen,, Ming Guo1,6,Yingle Liu',Nirmal Kumar Gali2,Li Sun' Yusen Duan3, Jing Cai, Dane Westerdahl2, Xinjin Liu', Ke Xu', Kin-fai Ho5, Haidong Kan,Qingyan Fu3&Ke Lan1
Received: 14 March 2020 Accepted: 20 April 2020
Published online:27 April 2020
The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has spread rapidly on a global scale.While the transmissionofSARS-CoV-2viahuman respiratory droplets anddirect contact is clear, the potential for aerosol transmission is poorly understoodi-3.This study investigated the aerodynamic nature of SARS-CoV-2 by measuring viral RNA in aerosols in different areas of two Wuhan hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak in February and March 2020. The concentration ofSARS-CoV-2RNA in aerosols detected in isolation wards andventilated patient rooms was very low,but it waselevatedin the patients'toilet areas. Levels of airborne SARS-CoV-2RNA in the majority of public areas was undetectable except in two areas prone to crowding,possibly due to infected carriers in the crowd. We found that some medical staff areas initially had high concentrations ofviral RNA with aerosol size distributions showing peaks in submicrometre and/or supermicrometre regions,but these levels were reduced to undetectable levels after implementation of rigorous sanitization procedures. Although we have not established the infectivity of the virus detected in these hospital areas, we propose that SARS-CoV-2 may have the potential to be transmitted via aerosols. Our results indicate that room ventilation, open space, sanitization of protective apparel,and proper use and disinfection of toilet areas can effectively limit the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNAin aerosols. Future work should explore the infectivity of aerosolized virus.
Circulating in 206 countries and areas, the COVID-19 outbreak has In this study,we sampled airborne SARS-CoV-2 and its aerosol deposi resulted in 857,641 confirmed cases including with 42,006 deaths tion at 30 sites in two designated hospitals and public areas in Wuhan globally as of April 2, 2020. Dueto its increasing threat toglobal health, and then quantified the SARS-CoV-2 copy counts of aerosol samples WHO has declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic and global using a robust droplet digital PCR-ba