Study on How COVID-19 Spread Becomes Global Cornerstone
While the worst disruptions from COVID-19, such as border closures and lockdowns, may be far behind us, the global pandemic has permanently altered society and continues to influence public behavior.
When the health crisis was in full swing that the world needed an urgent understanding of the virus, Prof. NING Zhi, Professor of the Division of Environment and Sustainability, was one of the earliest scientists to discover the airborne nature of SARS-CoV-2, the variant of coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The article, published in Nature (Liu and Ning* et al., 2020), became a cornerstone in shaping public health policies.
The study played a pivotal role in guiding the World Health Organization (WHO) and many governments, including the European Union and the United States, to formulate public health policies.
As an expert in air pollution measurement and modeling, Prof. NING led a research team to investigate the aerodynamic nature of the virus by measuring viral RNA in aerosols in different areas of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University and Wuchang Fangcang Field Hospital in early 2020, based on the limited pre-existing research on aerosol transmission.
The research team employed traditional aerosol capture devices to gather Total Suspended Particles (TSP), size-segregated particles, and deposition-based samples. The study revealed the bimodal nature (0.25 to 2.5 microns) of SARS-CoV-2 aerosol in its airborne form and transportation of this virus-laden aerosol from patients to medical staff.
The study provided crucial insights that underscored the necessity of rigorous sterilization, proper ventilation, mask-wearing, and crowd management to reduce infection risks in medical settings and to limit aerosol transmission.
But the study's implications extend well beyond immediate health measures. They also inspired technological innovations, namely two patented applications focusing on virus detection and prevention, to drive socio-economic transformations for healthier living conditions in the long term.
References:
Yu et al., Clinical Infectious Diseases, 58: 683-686 (2014).
Method of detecting virus particles and kits therefor, Patent Application Number: PCT/EP2021/064857, 2021.
Virus-like particles for preventing the spreading and lowering the infection rate of viruses, Patent No.: US 11,564,892 B2, 2023.
