Pathways to community transmission of COVID-19 due to rapid evaporation of respiratory virulets

Hypothesis: The formation of virus-laden colloidal respiratory microdroplets - the sneeze or cough virulets and their evaporation driven miniaturization in the open air are found to have a significant impact on the community transmission of COVID-19 pandemic. Simulation details: We simulate the motions and trajectories of virulets by employing laminar fluid flow coupled with droplet tracing physics. A force field analysis has been included considering the gravity, drag, and inertial forces to unleash some of the finer features of virulet trajectories leading to the droplet and airborne transmissions of the virus. Furthermore, an analytical model corroborates temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) controlled droplet miniaturization. Results: The study elucidates that the tiny (1-50 lm) and intermediate (60-100 lm) size ranged virulets tend to form bioaerosol and facilitate an airborne transmission while the virulets of larger dimensions (300 to 500 lm) are more prone to gravity dominated droplet transmission. Subsequently, the mapping between the T and RH guided miniaturization of virulets with the COVID-19 cases for six different cities across the globe justifies the significant contribution of miniaturization-based bioaerosol formation for community transmission of the pandemic. (c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of virus-laden colloidal respiratory microdroplets on the community transmission of COVID-19. Through simulations and analytical models, the study reveals the role of different-sized microdroplets in airborne and droplet transmission. The results also demonstrate the significance of temperature and relative humidity in controlling the miniaturization of microdroplets. By correlating the miniaturization-based bioaerosol formation with COVID-19 cases in six different cities, the study confirms the contribution of microdroplets to the community transmission of the pandemic.