Mitigation effect of face shield to reduce SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission risk: Preliminary simulations based on computed tomography

Abstract

We aimed to develop a model to quantitatively assess the potential effectiveness of face shield (visor) in reducing airborne transmission risk of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 during the current COVID-19 pandemic using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The studies with and without face shield in both an infected and healthy person have been considered in indoor environment simulation. In addition to the influence of the face shield and the synchronization of the breathing process while using the device, we also simulated the effect of small air movements on the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate (outdoor environment simulation). The contact with infectious particles in the case without a face shield was 12–20 s (s), in the presence of at least one person who was positive for SARS-CoV-2. If the infected person wore a face shield, no contact with contaminated air was observed during the entire simulation time (80 s). The time of contact with contaminated air (infection time) decreases to about 11 s when the surrounding air is still and begins to move at a low speed. Qualitative differences between simulations performed on the patients with and without the face shield are clearly visible. The maximum prevention of contagion is probably a consequence of wearing a face shield by an infected person. Our results suggest that it is possible to determine contact with air contaminated by SARS-CoV-2 using the CFD method under realistic conditions for virtually any situation and configuration. The proposed method is probably the fastest and most reliable among those based on CFD-based techniques.