{"id":43121,"date":"2021-12-21T20:40:31","date_gmt":"2021-12-22T03:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/omicron-has-arrived-in-colorado-heres-what-we-know-about-how-covid-spreads-in-the-air\/"},"modified":"2021-12-22T03:40:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T03:40:31","slug":"omicron-has-arrived-in-colorado-heres-what-we-know-about-how-covid-spreads-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/omicron-has-arrived-in-colorado-heres-what-we-know-about-how-covid-spreads-in-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Omicron has arrived in Colorado. Here\u2019s what we know about how COVID spreads in the air"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CSU
CSU researchers enlisted dozens of musicians to measure aerosol emissions. Results from instrument playing have not yet been officially released, but they say brass instruments tend to emit a lot more particles than woodwinds. (Courtesy of Ron Bend\/CSU)<\/span>Courtesy of Ron Bend\/CSU<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

A few years back, Colorado State University held a holiday spectacular concert.<\/p>\n

And it was spectacular, complete with Santa Claus, a full audience and a packed stage, with an orchestra and choir, and hundreds of people all in close proximity.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to March 2020, when COVID-19 derailed concerts, and everything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt deeply affected the performing arts because there was already evidence that the virus was airborne,\u201d said Dan Goble, Director of CSU\u2019s School of Music, Theatre and Dance.<\/p>\n

Early in the pandemic dozens of members of a church choir rehearsing in Skagit County, Washington caught the virus. Sixty-one people, including one symptomatic member, attended the two and half hour practice. That led to 32 confirmed and 20 probable cases; three were hospitalized and two died. Goble says that rattled the music world.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery concerned,\u201d he said. \u201cNot only myself, not only my colleagues here at CSU, but the chat rooms around the country lit up, not just of performing arts at colleges and universities. This is performing arts nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Director
Director of Colorado State University's School of Music, Dan Goble, said the realization that COVID-19 was airborne and easily spreadable by singing deeply affected performing arts at the college and nationwide. (John Daley\/CPR News)<\/span>John Daley\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Studying aerosols helps us understand how coronavirus spreads.<\/p>\n

To figure out how to respond, Goble teamed up with a professor from another part of the university: John Volckens, a mechanical engineer. He studies aerosols, a crucial path of coronavirus transmission.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the particles we exhale out of our bodies don\u2019t disappear, right?\u201d Volckens said. \u201cThey stay in the air and they can stay in the air for minutes to hours, depending on the ventilation system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volckens said there are a lot of questions about how particles spread. But he has the gear to learn more, including a clean room that looks like an aluminum refrigerator with a big sturdy door. Inside is an optical particle counter, which uses a powerful laser.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose instruments can count and size hundreds to thousands of particles per minute,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Volckens and Goble enlisted dozens of musicians to measure emissions. Fourth-year bio-medical engineering student Amy Keisling played her saxophone. When she told friends about the research they were fascinated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were just like, \u2018Oh, I didn\u2019t realize that that was something that instruments could do, or even something that people could do is spread these aerosols.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

They also measured aerosols from singers, even one from the New York Metropolitan Opera. They\u2019d compare that with the singing of \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d and compare that with ordinary talking. Volckens said they discovered \u201cthat when you sing, you emit more particles than when you talk and when you sing or talk louder, you especially emit more particles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study found singing produced 77 percent more aerosols than talking; adults produced 62 percent more aerosols than minors; and men produced 34 percent more aerosols than women.<\/p>\n

That data is so interesting, late-night hosts caught wind of it and they had a field day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe virus is also more likely to be transmitted by loud talkers, but that singing is worse than talking. Finally, scientific proof that office karaoke night is killing you,\u201d The Late Show\u2019s Stephen Colbert cracked, as his studio audience laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe jokes were actually pretty funny,\u201d Volckens said, while calling it, \u201cbittersweet for a scientist like me to see my work in the mainstream media, but tweaked a little bit and extrapolated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mary
Mary Hughes, a performer with the NY Metropolitan Opera, participated in the CSU aerosol emissions study. Researchers used an aerosol testing chamber and optical particle counter, which uses a powerful laser, to measure respiratory particles released by singing and playing instruments. (Courtesy of Ron Bend\/CSU)<\/span>Courtesy of Ron Bend\/CSU<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The research did not show that singers, adults and men can spread COVID-19 more, just aerosol particles, but he says that is a reasonable assumption. Still, he says the public health implications are clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cA crowded library is probably not as high a risk for a super spreading event as a crowded bar with loud music in the background where everyone\u2019s shouting at each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Think of aerosol emissions spreading in a room like cigarette smoke.<\/p>\n

Another Colorado aerosol researcher, CU\u2019s Jose-Luis Jimenez, agreed. And he said with the super-transmissible omicron variant here, including in several Colorado locations like Denver, \u201cI\u2019m personally very worried about omicron, as are many scientists because it has spread extremely quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said to think of aerosol emissions like the way cigarette smoke can hover and build up. That\u2019s why you should be very careful indoors, \u201ckeep groups small, wear masks at all times, except when you are eating, and work on ventilation.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that sums up what CSU\u2019s music department did.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the information allowed us to create what we call layered risk mitigation protocols,\u201d said Goble.<\/p>\n

The department did hold in-person concerts this fall, pre-omicron. But new rules included extra time between classes for performance rooms to air out and restrictions on occupancy sizes for venues. That\u2019s on top of a campus vaccination requirement, with more than 90 percent of students now vaccinated, and a mask requirement, including for singers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really nice to be able to perform for an audience,\u201d Keisling said. \u201cWhen we were rehearsing, we would only rehearse for about 45 minutes and then take a 15-minute air exchange break.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado State University professor John Volckens stands next to the clean room he uses to count and size thousands of particles per minute. Researchers are using the instruments to measure emissions from singing, talking and playing instruments to see how COVID-19 particles spread. (John Daley\/CPR News)<\/span>John Daley\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

One professor even measured air exchange rates in rehearsal rooms to \u201cmake sure that it was safe for us to come back and play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s first peer-reviewed paper was published last month in Environmental Science and Technology Letters via open access.<\/p>\n

That paper includes results just from the study\u2019s singing and talking experiments; results from instrument playing have not yet been officially released.<\/p>\n

But Volckens said those findings are enlightening too.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrass instruments tend to emit a lot more particles than woodwinds, which is actually not a terrible finding because brass instruments, most of the brass, you can put a bell cover on,\u201d Volckens said. \u201cSo you can knock down the particle concentrations. It\u2019s almost like putting a mask on your body.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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