Aerosol researchers at LTH are behind the study where the virus's infectivity has been mapped in around 40 people with confirmed covid infection.
"Aerosols are small airborne particles, and exhaled aerosols from a single person can transfer covid infection to others within a few minutes under normal indoor conditions", says Malin Alsved, research leader in a press release.
The researchers have arrived at the result by measuring exhaled air from infected people and a calculation method for the spread and inhalation of aerosol particles in indoor air.
The study also shows that you get infected faster if the sick person has already been in the room for a while, so that a uniform concentration of the virus has had time to form in the air.
"In small and medium-sized rooms, the virus spreads quickly in the air, and then it doesn't help to keep a distance to reduce the risk of getting infected yourself", says Malin Alsved.
The results of the study, which have been published in Scientific Report, also show that the amount of virus from the infected person is largest at the beginning of the infection, right when the symptoms start.
