Predominant airborne transmission and insignificant fomite transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a two-bus COVID-19 outbreak originating from the same pre-symptomatic index case

The number of people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to increase worldwide, but despite extensive research, there remains significant uncertainty about the predominant routes of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. We conducted a mechanistic modeling and calculated the exposure dose and infection risk of each passenger in a two-bus COVID-19 outbreak in Hunan province, China. This outbreak originated from a single pre-symptomatic index case. Some human behavioral data related to exposure including boarding and alighting time of some passengers and seating position and mask wearing of all passengers were obtained from the available closed-circuit television images/clips and/or questionnaire survey. Least-squares fitting was performed to explore the effect of effective viral load on transmission risk, and the most likely quanta generation rate was also estimated. This study reveals the leading role of airborne SARS-CoV-2 transmission and negligible role of fomite transmission in a poorly ventilated indoor environment, highlighting the need for more targeted interventions in such environments. The quanta generation rate of the index case differed by a factor of 1.8 on the two buses and transmission occurred in the afternoon of the same day, indicating a time varying effective viral load within a short period of five hours.

Automated summary

This study in Hunan province, China, revealed the leading role of airborne SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a poorly ventilated indoor environment, emphasizing the need for more targeted interventions in such settings. The research also showed that the quanta generation rate of the index case differed between the two buses and transmission occurred on the same day in the afternoon.