A Risk Assessment of Pathogen Transport During an Indoor Orchestra Performance

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that airborne pathogens and viruses have a detrimental impact on the health and well-being of an individual in an indoor space. Respiratory particles are released as droplets of varying velocities and diameters, where smaller droplets (aerosols) linger in air for prolonged periods, increasing the infection risk of individuals in an enclosed space. The pandemic has raised concerns regarding the safety of musicians due to respiratory particles released through woodwind and brass instruments. A collaboration with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra was pursued to assess the risk of infection and develop strategies to mitigate the spread of respiratory particles using computational fluid dynamics. A coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian modeling approach was employed to examine the airflow patterns and airborne particle pathogen transport induced by the musicians in the music hall. The investigation considered three brass instruments (trumpet, tuba, trombone), without and with a bell covering. It was observed that the dispersion of particles for each instrument depended on the bell design and orientation of the instrument. For example, the trumpet produced a higher concentration of respiratory particles compared to a tuba, which has its tubing wrapped. Additionally, the effect of using bell covers (cloth covering on the opening of the brass instruments) showed that the covers reduced the number of pathogens escaping the instruments by capturing large respiratory particles and reducing the escaping velocity of small particles. Reduced particle velocities at the instrument opening meant that the particles traveled shorter distances, which helped mitigate the spread of virus in the music hall. Moreover, the efficacy of using Plexiglas partitions on the sides and in front of the musicians limited the transmission of pathogens from one musician to another. Overall, the findings of this study helped strategize the location of musicians based on the type of instruments being played and the operating conditions in the music hall to decrease the airborne transmission of the novel Coronavirus.