Shocking video: scientists simulated a coronavirus cloud floating around a grocery

A team of researchers from Aalto University and other Finnish scientific organizations have studied how tiny aerosol particles released from the airways when coughing, sneezing or even talking are carried in the air.

Irina Ziganshina

About 30 specialists in the field of hydrodynamics, aerosol physics, ventilation, virology and biomedical engineering took part in the project. 3D visualization made by them according to the research results can be seen here.

Researchers simulated a scenario when a person coughs in the aisle between the shelves of a grocery store. For dry cough, and this is one of the symptoms of coronavirus, the particle size is usually less than 15 micrometers. Such small particles do not immediately settle to the floor, but, on the contrary, move in the air flows created by ventilation, or “soar” in the same place.

Before the aerosol cloud dissolves in air, a few minutes will pass during which the particles of the virus can be in the lungs of people nearby. Conclusion: you should avoid crowded and crowded rooms, shops, restaurants, public transport - the risk of contracting virus particles in such places is higher.