Fig. 5: Time until there is a 50% chance that at least one susceptible person will have become infected in an occupied classroom containing a single infected individual, where the viral decay rate is dictated by the RH and [CO2(g)] in the replacement air. | Nature Communications

Fig. 5: Time until there is a 50% chance that at least one susceptible person will have become infected in an occupied classroom containing a single infected individual, where the viral decay rate is dictated by the RH and [CO2(g)] in the replacement air.

From: Ambient carbon dioxide concentration correlates with SARS-CoV-2 aerostability and infection risk

Fig. 5

We combine estimates of the [CO2(g)] in the room with interpolations of the datasets for Delta variant’s infectivity at 90% RH to estimate the risk when exchanging with outdoor air (black, 40% RH, 450 ppm [CO2(g)]). This interpolation is purely intended to illustrate the nonlinear role of ventilation qualitatively, and so these numbers should not be taken literally. For comparison we also show the expectation at fixed low (purple) and high (orange) [CO2(g)] without any interpolation; this models recirculation flow within a HVAC system. The number of occupants is varied a 20, b 30, and c 40. An infectious quanta production rate of 0.1s-1 is assumed.

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