Study Reveals COVID-19 Spread Through Ventilation in High-Rise Apartments
A study published in PLOS One reveals that a COVID-19 outbreak in a high-rise apartment building in Santander, Spain, was likely spread through shared bathroom ventilation ducts. Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder found that the building's ventilation system, which used natural convection, allowed virus-laden aerosols to travel between vertically connected apartments. The study highlights the role of shared infrastructure in disease transmission, particularly in older buildings with outdated ventilation systems. The findings are reminiscent of a 2003 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, where similar transmission occurred through bathroom drains. 
