From the office to the classroom, as more people go back to work and school, many are wondering just how much risk they are taking on.
When it comes to indoor exposure to the coronavirus, assessing your level of risk goes beyond just staying six feet apart from others.
“Time is very important: so the longer the exposure, the greater the risk. The occupancy is important: the number of people in the room. The ventilation rate and the filtration rate, et cetera,” said Dr. Martin Bazant, a professor of Chemical Engineering and Math at MIT of the various risk factors.
Dr. Bazant and his team released a new study Tuesday looking at how to calculate that risk indoors.
He says the risks are somewhat like the risks of second smoke if you are indoors with someone who is smoking.
“We all know when we see the plumes of smoke from a person who is exhaling while smoking that there is a high concentration of smoke across a certain distance from that turbulent respiratory flow. But that smoke then gets mixed, and eventually the dilute becomes high risk for secondhand smoke over longer periods of time.”
More smokers increase the danger, and the longer you are in the room the more secondhand smoke you might inhale. Distance helps reduce your risk, as does good ventilation and air filtration in the room.
Dr. Bazant and other researchers at MIT have developed an online tool that can help you figure out where you risk is in any given scenario, with details about where to draw the line.
It calculates acceptable levels of risk based on the type of room, what people might be doing, how many people there are and more.
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