Infectious Risk Prevention and Control Methods of Small Open Space in Post-Epidemic Era - Risk Analysis of Airborne Transmission of Respiratory Infectious Diseases Based on CFD Wind Environment Simulation

Abstract

The close contact in small open space poses a great risk of airborne transmission infection in post-epidemic era. But we still don’t have a good model to estimate the risk quantitatively and decide what we can do to reduce infection rate in small open space design., In this study, CFD wind simulation is applied to predict the airflow distribution and virus transmission in different small open space scenarios, and the infectious probability of different positions is assessed by using the Wells-Riley equation. We found that the infectious probability is less than 0.0002% in small open space. But in poorly ventilated scenarios, areas with high-level infection risk are large, and there are aggregation areas of virus pollutant even at positions far from infectors. Reversing leeward environment to windward environment and moving the infectors to high wind speed position are two effective solutions to reduce infectious probability in small open space. The preliminary analysis can not only provide some reference for infectious risk in small open space, but also be of great significance to improve the air removal efficiency and provide places for residents to breathe freely.