Hotel ventilation systems 'certainly possible' as mode for Covid-19 transmission, expert says

January 26, 2021

Joel Rindelaub says small droplets can remain in a room for hours if there is no fresh air coming in.

Covid-19 can travel through a hotel's ventilation system as a possible mode of virus transmission, a chemistry researcher has today confirmed.

It comes after New Zealand’s latest Covid-19 community case was infected with the new South African Covid-19 variant while staying in an Auckland managed isolation facility.

Dr Joel Rindelaub, a Research Fellow at the Auckland University’s School of Chemical Sciences, told Breakfast it's "certainly possible" for Covid-19 to travel through a hotel’s ventilation system.

“We have seen this kind of thing before, possibly,” he said. “Now, we don’t want to jump to any conclusions here – we don’t have all the details – but yes, it is certainly possible.

Experts say it could have been spread through the hotel’s ventilation system, but the Government is playing down the theory.

“If you sneeze or you cough, you’re going to expel some gross droplets from your face hole, right?

“These droplets are gunna fall out. The big ones are about two metres – that’s why we have that social distancing guideline.”

The release of 46 people from the Pullman in Auckland has now been delayed, pending the results of an extra coronavirus test.

Rindelaub said he was more concerned about the “little, tiny particles – the ones that are smaller than the droplets that you can’t even see, that are maybe 10 times less than the width of your hair”.

He described the droplets as “so small, they can actually just chill out in the air, go with the flow," adding that they could "maybe transfer from room to room, hang out in hallways or other social areas.

"They can be there for hours if there is not fresh air coming out."

Rindelaub said you “want to have clean, fresh air coming into your building at all times” rather than “recirculate[ing] the air,” which can lead to “high-risk situations” where infections may occur.

He said a similar situation occurred last year after two MIQ healthcare workers were infected with Covid-19 in a Christchurch hotel from what was believed to be “some kind of airborne transmission”.

He added that airborne transmission is “something that we need to be concerned about, not only with mask-wearing, but with the quality of air we’re breathing”.

Rindelaub said the chances of becoming infected with Covid-19 in MIQ facilities can be minimised by ensuring there is clean air and “possibly having a stand down time between guests”.

“We know the virus can last, at most, maybe three days, so we have enough time in between guests. The virus can just die naturally on a surface and we’re not maybe exposing our cleaners to go in to that virus.”

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