Browsing by Subject "aerosoli leviäminen"

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2019 has had a huge impact on the hospitality industry, decreasing production by 35.4% in Q4 of 2020. To keep the industry functional, new safety solutions have to be studied and developed for mitigation of the pandemic. In this study, airborne transmission of viruses in an indoor space was studied, and air purifiers and space dividers were tested as potential intervention methods against SARS-CoV-2 by using a non-pathogenic model virus phi 6. Filtered air purifiers were found to work as a possible solution for the mitigation of viruses spreading through aerosols in public spaces such as restaurants, however, the positioning of the devices is crucial, as the air flow to them may increase the concentration of viruses locally. Space dividers were found to increase the possibility of infection via aerosols. Other types of air purifiers were also tested: an ionizer prototype and a hydroxyl radical emitting unit, of which the ionizer prototype proved to be efficient in reducing the virus concentrations in the air. Most importantly, it was confirmed that enveloped viruses resembling coronaviruses are capable of spreading via aerosol transmission indoors.