Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Exposure Assessment Tool (CEAT) allows users to compare respiratory relative risk to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) for various scenarios, providing understanding of how combinations of protective measures affect risk. CEAT incorporates mechanistic, stochastic, and epidemiological factors including the (i) emission rate of virus, (ii) viral aerosol degradation and removal, (iii) duration of activity/exposure, (iv) inhalation rates, (v) ventilation rates (indoors/outdoors), (vi) volume of indoor space, (vii) filtration, (viii) mask use and effectiveness, (ix) distance between people (taking into account both near-field and far-field effects of proximity), (x) group size, (xi) current infection rates by variant, (xii) prevalence of infection and immunity in the community, (xiii) vaccination rates, and (xiv) implementation of COVID-19 testing procedures. CEAT applied to published studies of COVID-19 transmission events demonstrates the model’s accuracy. We also show how health and safety professionals at NASA Ames Research Center used CEAT to manage potential risks posed by SARS-CoV-2 exposures.
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Authors
Brian J. Schimmollera,b, Nídia S. Trovãoba,c, Molly Isbella,b, Chirag Goelca,d, Benjamin F. Hecka,e, Tenley C. Archera,f, Klint D. Cardinala,g, Neil B. Naika,g, Som Duttaa,h, Ahleah Rohr Daniela,i, Afshin Beheshtia,j
a COVID-19 International Research Team, Medford, MA 02155, USA
b Signature Science, LLC, Austin, TX, USA
c Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
d Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
e Bastion Technologies, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
f Biomea Fusion Inc., Redwood City, CA 94063, USA
g Leidos Inc., NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
h Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84332, USA.
i Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
j KBR, Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA