ArticleBuilding and environment2021
Probable airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a poorly ventilated restaurant.
Article in Building and environment, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 208 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
208 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 549 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-Analysis of COVID-19 Cluster Events Suggestive of Long-Distance Airborne Transmission/Inhalation.MicrobiologyOpen · 2026Pooled it
- Non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19: a systematic review on environmental control measures.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review on impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Microbiological research · 2023Pooled it
- A review of strategies and their effectiveness in reducing indoor airborne transmission and improving indoor air quality.Environmental research · 2022Pooled it
- Long distance airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2: rapid systematic review.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2022Pooled it
- Combining and comparing regional SARS-CoV-2 epidemic dynamics in Italy: Bayesian meta-analysis of compartmental models and global sensitivity analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Article
- MEmilio: a high performance Modular EpideMIcs simuLatIOn software for multi-scale and comparative simulations of infectious disease dynamics.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Quantifying crowding-ventilation effect on respiratory infections.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- The Effects of Indoor Pollutants on Health Care Workers, Patients, and Caregivers in Dental Clinics: A Systematic Review.European journal of dentistry · 2026Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Surface Contamination and Viable Virus in High-Ventilation Single Rooms: Implications for Fomite Transmission.Juntendo medical journal · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal prediction of sneeze pollutants in enclosed spaces: a CNN-LSTM approach validated by field measurements and CFD-Robotics arm twin system.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2026Article
- The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Elimination of Airborne Microorganisms Using Compressive Heating Air Sterilization Technology (CHAST): Laboratory and Nursing Home Setting.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- Survival and transmission fitness of SARS-CoV-2 over the time-of-flight in an aerosolization chamber.Npj viruses · 2025Article
- Network-based virus dynamic simulation: Evaluating the fomite disinfection effectiveness on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in indoor environment.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2025Article
- Estimating Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission in a South African clinic: Spatiotemporal model based on person movements.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- 3D modelling and simulation of thermal effects and dispersion of particles carrying infectious respiratory agents in a railway transport coach.Scientific reports · 2025Article
148 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Although airborne transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been recognized, the condition of ventilation for its occurrence is still being debated. We analyzed a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak involving three families in a restaurant in Guangzhou, China, assessed the possibility of airborne transmission, and characterized the associated environmental conditions. We collected epidemiological data, obtained a full video recording and seating records from the restaurant, and measured the dispersion of a warm tracer gas as a surrogate for exhaled droplets from the index case. Computer simulations were performed to simulate the spread of fine exhaled droplets. We compared the in-room location of subsequently infected cases and spread of the simulated virus-laden aerosol tracer. The ventilation rate was measured using the tracer gas concentration decay method. This outbreak involved ten infected persons in three families (A, B, C). All ten persons ate lunch at three neighboring tables at the same restaurant on January 24, 2020. None of the restaurant staff or the 68 patrons at the other 15 tables became infected. During this occasion, the measured ventilation rate was 0.9 L/s per person. No close contact or fomite contact was identified, aside from back-to-back sitting in some cases. Analysis of the airflow dynamics indicates that the infection distribution is consistent with a spread pattern representative of long-range transmission of exhaled virus-laden aerosols. Airborne transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is possible in crowded space with a ventilation rate of 1 L/s per person.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.