Cited by 734Infection Control and VentilationCOVID-19 epidemiological studiesCOVID-19 impact on air quality

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by inhalation of respiratory aerosol in the Skagit Valley Chorale superspreading event

Open access
Miller, Shelly L., Nazaroff, William W, Jimenez, Jose L., Boerstra, Atze, Buonanno, Giorgio, Dancer, Stephanie J., Kurnitski, Jarek, Marr, Linsey C. +2 more·2021·Indoor Air

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, an outbreak occurred following attendance of a symptomatic index case at a weekly rehearsal on 10 March of the Skagit Valley Chorale (SVC). After that rehearsal, 53 members of the SVC among 61 in attendance were confirmed or strongly suspected to have contracted COVID-19 and two died. Transmission by the aerosol route is likely; it appears unlikely that either fomite or ballistic droplet transmission could explain a substantial fraction of the cases. It is vital to identify features of cases such as this to better understand the factors that promote superspreading events. Based on a conditional assumption that transmission during this outbreak was dominated by inhalation of respiratory aerosol generated by one index case, we use the available evidence to infer the emission rate of aerosol infectious quanta. We explore how the risk of infection would vary with several influential factors: ventilation rate, duration of event, and deposition onto surfaces. The results indicate a best-estimate emission rate of 970 ± 390 quanta/h. Infection risk would be reduced by a factor of two by increasing the aerosol loss rate to 5 h−1 and shortening the event duration from 2.5 to 1 h.

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  • Laboratory, field, modelling, and case studies have shown that airborne transmission through inhalation of virus-laden aerosol is important, if not dominant, for COVID-19.

    “Laboratory, field, modelling, and case studies have shown that airborne transmission through the inhalation of a virus-laden aerosol is important, if not dominant, for COVID-19.119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132”

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  1. Peinado F, Ferrero B. El virus se ceba con las voces del coro de la Zarzuela. El Pais, 01 June 2020. https://elpais.com/espan a/madri 16000668, 2021, 2, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ina.12751 by Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Wiley Online Library on [31/08/2026]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License d/2020-06-02/el-virus -se-ceba-con-las-voces -del-coro-de-la- zarzu ela.html. Accessed 06 June 2020. · DOI

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Authors
Miller, S. L., Nazaroff, W. W., Jimenez, J. L., Boerstra, A., Buonanno, G., Dancer, S. J., Kurnitski, J., Marr, L. C., Morawska, L., & Noakes, C.
Affiliations
  • University of Colorado Boulder (US)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
  • Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (US)
  • REHVA (Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Associations) BBA Binnenmilieu Den Haag The Netherlands
  • Università degli studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale (IT)
  • Edinburgh Napier University (GB)
  • Tallinn University of Technology (EE)
  • Virginia Tech (US)
  • International Laboratory for Air Quality and Heath (ILAQH) WHO Collaborating Centre for Air Quality and Health School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Queensland University of Technology Brisbane Queensland Australia
  • University of Leeds (GB)
Corresponding author
Miller, Shelly L.
Venue
Indoor Air
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2020-10-13
Volume
31
Issue
2
Pages
314-323
ISSN
  • 0905-6947 (ISSN-L)
  • 1600-0668
OpenAlex
W3089975294
Cited by
734
References
73
Citations by year
2026: 31 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 79 · 2023: 101 · 2022: 182 · 2021: 229 · 2020: 52
FWCI
79.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Indoor Air (publishedVersion)
  • medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
  • QUT ePrints (Queensland University of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Edinburgh Napier Research Repository (Edinburgh Napier University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • CU Scholar (University of Colorado Boulder) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca - Università degli Studi di Cassino (submittedVersion)
  • Edinburgh Napier Research Repository (Edinburgh Napier University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • VTechWorks (Virginia Tech) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Infection Control and Ventilation
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › COVID-19 impact on air quality
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pandemic, superspreading events, aerosol deposition, ventilation rate, infection risk, choral rehearsal, indoor air quality
MeSH terms
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Humans, Time Factors, Ventilation, Washington, Fomites, Singing

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