Critical Capability Needs for Reduction of Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Indoors

Jayne B Morrow; Aaron I Packman; Kenneth F Martinez; Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg; Darla Goeres; Delphine K Farmer; Jade Mitchell; Lisa Ng; Yair Hazi; Monica Schoch-Spana; Sandra Quinn; William Bahnfleth; Paula Olsiewski

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2021.641599

Critical Capability Needs for Reduction of Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 Indoors

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2021 Sep 29:9:641599. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2021.641599. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jayne B Morrow^{1

2}, Aaron I Packman³, Kenneth F Martinez^{2

4}, Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg⁵, Darla Goeres¹, Delphine K Farmer⁶, Jade Mitchell⁷, Lisa Ng⁸, Yair Hazi⁴, Monica Schoch-Spana⁹, Sandra Quinn¹⁰, William Bahnfleth¹¹, Paula Olsiewski^{9

12}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United States.
² Integrated Bioscience and Built Environment Consortium (IBEC), Sanford, FL, United States.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States.
⁴ HWC Inc., Washington, DC, United States.
⁵ Biology and the Built Environment Center, College of Design, Institute for Health in the Built Environment, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, United States.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States.
⁷ Department of Biosystems Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States.
⁸ Engineering Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, United States.
⁹ Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.
¹⁰ Department of Family Science and Center for Health Equity, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States.
¹¹ Department of Architectural Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States.
¹² Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, New York, NY, United States.

Abstract

Coordination of efforts to assess the challenges and pain points felt by industries from around the globe working to reduce COVID-19 transmission in the indoor environment as well as innovative solutions applied to meet these challenges is mandatory. Indoor infectious viral disease transmission (such as coronavirus, norovirus, influenza) is a complex problem that needs better integration of our current knowledge and intervention strategies. Critical to providing a reduction in transmission is to map the four core technical areas of environmental microbiology, transmission science, building science, and social science. To that end a three-stage science and innovation Summit was held to gather information on current standards, policies and procedures applied to reduce transmission in built spaces, as well as the technical challenges, science needs, and research priorities. The Summit elucidated steps than can be taken to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 indoors and calls for significant investments in research to enhance our knowledge of viral pathogen persistence and transport in the built environment, risk assessment and mitigation strategy such as processes and procedures to reduce the risk of exposure and infection through building systems operations, biosurveillance capacity, communication form leadership, and stakeholder engagement for optimal response. These findings reflect the effective application of existing knowledge and standards, emerging science, and lessons-learned from current efforts to confront SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; biosurveillance; buildings; human factors; indoors; risk reduction and mitigation measures; transmission.

Publication types

Review