%0 Journal Article
%T Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 during air travel: a descriptive and modelling study.
%A Zhang J
%A Qin F
%A Qin X
%A Li J
%A Tian S
%A Lou J
%A Kang X
%A Lian H
%A Niu S
%A Zhang W
%A Chen Y
%J Ann Med
%V 53
%N 1
%D 12 2021
%M 34463165
%F 5.348
%R 10.1080/07853890.2021.1973084
%X To explore the potential of SARS-CoV-2 spread during air travel and the risk of in-flight transmission.<BR>We enrolled all passengers and crew suspected of being infected with SARS-CoV-2, who bounded for Beijing on international flights. We specified the characteristics of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection and utilised Wells-Riley equation to estimate the infectivity of COVID-19 during air travel.<BR>We screened 4492 passengers and crew with suspected COVID-19 infection, verified 161 confirmed cases (mean age 28.6 years), and traced two confirmed cases who may have been infected in the aircraft. The estimated infectivity was 375 quanta/h (range 274-476), while the effective infectivity was only 4 quanta/h (range 2-5). The risk of per-person infection during a 13 h air travel in economy class was 0.56‰ (95% CI 0.41‰-0.72‰).<BR>We found that the universal use of face masks on the flight, together with the plane's ventilation system, significantly decreased the infectivity of COVID-19.KEY MESSAGESThe COVID-19 pandemic is changing the lifestyle in the world, especially air travel which has the potential to spread SARS-CoV-2.The universal use of face masks on the flight, together with the plane's ventilation system, significantly decreased the infectivity of COVID-19 on an aircraft.Our findings suggest that the risk of infection in aircraft was negligible.