Related papers: Face-masks save us from SARS-CoV-2 transmission
By the peak of COVID-19 restrictions on April 8, 2020, up to 1.5 billion students across 188 countries were by the suspension of physical attendance in schools. Schools were among the first services to reopen as vaccination campaigns…
While almost any kind of face mask offers some protection against particles and pathogens of different sizes, the most efficient ones make use of a layered structure where one or more layers are electrically charged. This electret layer is…
It is well known that several viruses, as well as SARS-CoV-2, can be transmitted through airborne diffusion of saliva micro-droplets. For this reason many reserach groups have been devoted their efforts in order to gain new insight into the…
The world is facing a huge health crisis due to the rapid transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). Several guidelines were issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) for protection against the spread of coronavirus. According to WHO, the…
In the absence of vaccines or medicines to stop COVID-19, one of the effective methods to slow the spread of the coronavirus and reduce the overloading of healthcare is to wear a face mask. Nevertheless, to mandate the use of face masks or…
Non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs), and in particular social distancing, in conjunction with the advent of effective vaccines at the end of 2020, aspired for the development of a protective immunity shield against the spread of…
Using recent data from voluntary mass testing, I provide credible bounds on prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 for Austrian counties in early December 2020. When estimating prevalence, a natural missing data problem arises: no test results are…
Efficacy for COVID-19 treatments can be enhanced significantly through targeting the nasopharynx, which has been shown to be the dominant preliminary infection site for SARS-CoV-2. Although intranasal drugs can be administered easily…
The rapid spreading of SARS-CoV-2 and its dramatic consequences, are forcing policymakers to take strict measures in order to keep the population safe. At the same time, societal and economical interactions are to be safeguarded. A wide…
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the urgency to understand and prevent pathogen transmission, specifically regarding infectious airborne particles. Extensive studies validate the understanding of larger (droplets) and smaller (aerosols)…
The lack of quantitative risk assessment of airborne transmission of COVID-19 under practical settings leads to large uncertainties and inconsistencies in our preventive measures. Combining in situ measurements and numerical simulations, we…
Background: Without proven effect treatments and vaccines, Social Distancing is the key protection factor against COVID-19. Social distancing alone should have been enough to protect again the virus, yet things have gone very differently,…
Transmission rates in epidemic outbreaks may vary over time depending on the societal response. Non-pharmacological mitigation strategies such as social distancing and the adoption of protective equipment aim precisely at reducing…
Estimating the mask-wearing ratio in public places is important as it enables health authorities to promptly analyze and implement policies. Methods for estimating the mask-wearing ratio on the basis of image analysis have been reported.…
Nosocomial infections place a substantial burden on health care systems and represent a major issue in current public health, requiring notable efforts for its prevention. Understanding the dynamics of infection transmission in a hospital…
Respirators, medical masks, and barrier face coverings all filter airborne particles using similar physical principles. However, they are tested for certification using a variety of standardized test methods, creating challenges for the…
Contaminated objects or surfaces, referred to as fomites, play a critical role in the spread of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The long persistence of viruses (hours to days) on surfaces…
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a rapidly emerging respiratory disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to the rapid human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2, many healthcare systems…
The recent COVID-19 pandemic underscores the significance of early-stage non-pharmacological intervention strategies. The widespread use of masks and the systematic implementation of contact tracing strategies provide a potentially equally…
Repeated asymptomatic screening for SARS-CoV-2 promises to control spread of the virus but would require too many resources to implement at scale. Group testing is promising for screening more people with fewer test resources: multiple…