Via WBUR:
A recent study suggests air conditioning systems could play a role in spreading the coronavirus.
The study looks at a woman in China who dined at a restaurant days before she showed COVID-19 symptoms. Researchers say she infected four people at her table and five at other tables because an air conditioner behind her spread droplets from her speech.
These findings suggest air conditioners can blow around infected droplets hanging in the air, says University of Maryland environmental health professor Donald Milton. With enough air movement, your nose can pull in large particles, he says. Think pollen, for example.
The restaurant had exhaust fans that were sealed up at the time of the infections, he says.
“There was no fresh air coming in,” he says. “Outbreaks — where you have a bunch of people infected all at once like that — are almost exclusively occurring indoors in poorly ventilated environments.”