Assessment of Air Exchange Rate and COVID-19 Transmission

Abstract

Containing and minimizing the spread of COVID-19 remains a concern for many educational institutions like UW-Eau Claire, where students have returned to in-person classes. COVID-19 is transmitted through aerosolized respiratory particles. Poor ventilation allows these aerosolized particles to build up in closed, indoor spaces. Ventilation physically removes pathogens from a space and/or dilutes the concentration of infectious aerosolized particles, limiting risk of disease transmission. We present a simple, cheap, and definitive method of assessing risk of COVID-19 transmission by calculating ventilation rate. As we increasingly “return to normal” and move forward from the pandemic, we believe that ventilation will play a crucial role in disease prevention and overall health.