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Ventilation: German Scientists Go With The Flow To Combat COVID
Ventilation: German Scientists Go With The Flow To Combat COVID
Many event professionals are banking on a vaccine or the ability to do quick tests on a mass scale to get audiences back into their buildings. A group of German scientists found there’s a third way: good ventilation technology, which is a key component when it comes to risk of contagion.
The scientists, who work at the medical center of Halle University in Germany, conducted a scientific experiment Aug. 22 at the Quarterback Immobilien Arena in Leipzig to gather data on crowd management. German singer and songwriter Tim Bendzko performed a concert in front of an audience of 1,500. Audience members were equipped with contact tracers while different crowd behavior scenarios were simulated. In the results, presented at the end of October, the scientists found that shows would have little effect on the pandemic if the events used adequate safety and hygiene protections and the venue had good ventilation.
As Halle University's science editor Cornelia Fuhrmann explained, the arena, which usually holds 12,000 for concerts, was re-created in a computer model. On the day of the experiment, the scientists used fog machines to make the spread of aerosols visible. “It demonstrated how a change in the setting of the escape nozzles, for instance from facing up to facing down, changes the airflow,” said Fuhrmann, adding, “This, of course, differs from venue to venue. The data from Arena Leipzig's ventilation will be incorporated in the mathematical model.”
Based on their findings, the researchers came up with a list of recommendations, one of which is equipping buildings with ventilation technology that facilitates an efficient and regular exchange of air in the room. They suggested creating an evaluation system for what constitutes “adequate room air technology.”
Seeing that buildings have means of making sure the audience avoids critical contact on site, “events can take place even in a pandemic situation under certain conditions,” concluded Dr. Stefan Moritz, who directed the study. “The most important insight for us,” he said, “was the impact of a good ventilation technology, which is a key component when it comes to risk of contagion.”