Droplets and Aerosols Generated by Singing and the Risk of Coronavirus Disease 2019 for Choirs

Prateek Bahl; Charitha de Silva; Shovon Bhattacharjee; Haley Stone; Con Doolan; Abrar Ahmad Chughtai; C Raina MacIntyre

doi:10.1093/cid/ciaa1241

Droplets and Aerosols Generated by Singing and the Risk of Coronavirus Disease 2019 for Choirs

Clin Infect Dis. 2021 May 18;72(10):e639-e641. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1241.

Authors

Prateek Bahl¹, Charitha de Silva¹, Shovon Bhattacharjee², Haley Stone³, Con Doolan¹, Abrar Ahmad Chughtai³, C Raina MacIntyre²

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
² The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
³ School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales Sydney, Sydney, Australia.

Abstract

Choral singing has become a major risk during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic due to high infection rates. Our visualization and velocimetry results reveal that the majority of droplets expelled during singing follow the ambient airflow pattern. These results point toward the possibility of COVID-19 spread by small airborne droplets during singing.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; airborne transmission; choirs; singing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aerosols
COVID-19*
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Singing*

Substances

Aerosols

Grants and funding

MRC_/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom