Risk of COVID-19 exposure on airplanes low, study shows

Covid transmission study

A mannequin simulates a passenger onboard a United aircraft during an airflow particle test conducted by U.S. Transportation Command and the Department of Defense to identify coronavirus airflows throughout the cabin.Department of Defense

The risk of COVID-19 exposure onboard an aircraft is “virtually non-existent,” according to a new study.

The study by Boeing, United Airlines and the Department of Defense looked at results from 300 tests conducted in a little over 6 months with a mannequin on a United plane, ABC News reported.

The study involved a mannequin equipped with an aerosol generator to reproduce breathing and coughing at a heavy level. Researchers then studied the way the mannequin’s air particles moved inside the cabin, comparing with a mask on vs. without a mask. The study showed 99.99% of particles left the interior of the aircraft within 6 minutes, due in part to “aggressive ventilation,” United Airlines Chief Communications Officer Josh Earnest told ABC News.

According to the International Air Transport Association, among 1.2 billion travelers, only 44 published cases of potential inflight COVID transmission have been reported. Many of those cases occurred in the early days of the pandemic before masks were required, the group said.

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You can see more from the Department of Defense here.

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