According to the latest research in the UK, the new coronavirus loses 90% of its infectivity within 5 minutes of airborne transmission. (European News Agency)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 12, 2022) According to a new study, the new coronavirus loses 90% of its infectivity within 5 minutes of being in the air.

Researchers at the University of Bristol in England used special equipment to test how long the new coronavirus can survive as aerosols under various conditions of temperature, humidity, and light. The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, is the first in the world to simulate the survival of the virus after being exhaled into the air by an infected person.

The study found that the viral particles were significantly less potent and eventually killed after they left the carbon dioxide-rich human lungs.

However, the rate at which virus particles dry out depends roughly on the humidity of the surrounding air. At less than 50% humidity, like the air in an office, the virus loses half of its infectivity within 10 seconds of airborne transmission; at 90% humidity, like the air in a sauna or shower, about 52 % of the virus particles were still infectious after five minutes, dropping to around 10% after 20 minutes.

Jonathan Reid, the lead author of the study and director of the Aerosol Research Center at the University of Bristol in England, said that people have been concerned about poorly ventilated environments, thinking that virus particles can be spread in the air for several meters or an entire room. Not that it won't happen, but I still think the biggest risk is when you're close to someone."

"As you go further, not only are the aerosols diluted, but the infectious virus is also reduced because the virus has lost its infectivity over time," he said.

According to the study, air temperature had no effect on the infectivity of the virus. It was widely believed that the transmission rate of the virus would decrease in warm weather conditions.

"It means that if I meet friends for lunch at a bar today, the main risk is probably that I infect my friends or my friends infect me, rather than someone on the other side of the room," Reed said.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)