Reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2

NSYSU launched the first and the only one Aerosol Science Research Center (ASRC) in Asia in 2017, providing a cross-disciplinary platform for researchers from around the world conducting aerosols research especially those focus on how PM 2.5 influences human health. In 2019, the Center signed a MOU with the only one aerosol research center in North America: Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment (CAICE) in University of California San Diego. The international collaborative tie between the two centers strengthened the academic relationship of the two universities. Their research focus on characterizing the sea spray aerosols in North California and in Taiwan, their impacts to the atmospheric chemistry and climate changes, as well as the effects of human activities induced pollution on sea spray aerosols.

Recently the Center director Dr. Chia-Cheng Wang as well as Dr. Kimberly Prather and Dr. Robert Schooley of the University of California, San Diego published a Perspective article in the journal Science. They said the six-feet of distance recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) might not be enough to limit the transmission of COVID-19 as a large proportion of the COVID-19 spread can occur through the airborne transmission of virus-laden aerosols. The SARS-CoV-2 which caused COVID-19 can be transmitted in the form of aerosols (smaller than 5 μm) by asymptomatic individuals during breathing and speaking. The aerosol particles could accumulate and remain infectious in indoor air for hours, while being easily inhaled deep into the lungs. This Perspective article published in Science has attracted global attention on how to prevent the airborne transmission of COVID-19 to mitigate the pandemic.

The Perspective article in the journal Science: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/05/27/science.abc6197.full