Flow visualization and aerosols in performance

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a great deal of fear and uncertainty around whether aerosols from singers and musical instruments can transmit the virus. The World Health Organization has recognized that SARS-COV-2 is transmissible through aerosols. Outbreaks from choir performances, such as the Skagit Valley Choir, showed that singing brings potential risk of COVID-19 infection. Additionally, outbreaks from singing have resulted in superspreader events leading to many infections and deaths. There is less known about the risks of airborne infection from other musical performance, such as playing wind instruments or performing theater. Hence, aerosol generation in performance (playing brass and woodwind instruments, singing, and theater speech delivery) should be quantified, monitored, and mitigated. To tackle this issue our research questions were as follows: (i) What is the aerosol generation rate? (ii) How does air flow from the performer’s mouth/instrument and how does it disseminate into the environment? and (iii) What control methods can be employed to mitigate risk? In this study, we used a variety of methods, including flow visualization, aerosol and CO2 measurements, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling to understand the different components that can lead to transmission risk from musical performance and risk mitigation.