A multi-disciplinary and international team led by Associate Professor THAM Kwok Wai has recently been awarded an NMRC (National Medical Research Council, Singapore) titled ” Mitigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission through expiratory droplet control and environmental intervention”. The project is structured with 3 intertwined components (Figure) comprising (i) characterisation of expiratory aerosol load, (ii) environmental and operational interventions, and (iii) evaluation/modelling of the effectiveness of these interventions. Together these constitute a coherent study that provides evidence of viral shedding, and effectiveness of personal and environmental strategies for mitigating SARS-CoV-2 airborne transmission. The outcomes support policy formulation for safe and practical re-opening and post-COVID-19 management of indoor facilities and community activities to help restore Singapore’s economy.
Awarded under the category of “Investigator Initiated Research” this 1-year project utilise a specially designed human scale expiratory sampler, Gesundheit-II developed by Professor Don Milton (now at University of Maryland), to obtain breath samples from recovering COVID-19 patients to determine their viral loads associated with various oral activities (breathing, talking and singing). The effectiveness of using masks of different types is examined. The data is useful to inform transmission risks in the community as Singapore progressively re-opens its economy.
The project involves collaboration among epidemiology, environmental surveillance, computational modelling, virology, aerobiology, infectious diseases, ventilation and airflow dynamics. Collaborators are from University of Maryland, Hong Kong University, University Hospitals of Leicester, Duke-NUS, NCID (National Centre of Infectious Diseases), NUHS, and NUS.
