A recent study of 10 different coronavirus cases spread through three different families that dined at the very same restaurant located in southern China has suggested that the use of air conditioning could have aided droplet transmission between them.

According to a report of the research which was based on the infections around the city of Guangzhou in late January, the "Strong airflow from the air conditioner could have propagated droplets." It concluded that the droplet transmission alone could not completely explain the infections.

What the research has revealed

According to the report of the research which was led by Jianyun Lu of the known Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, restaurants should increase the space between tables and also improve ventilation in order to reduce the risk of infection.

The research has been revealed in an early-release article for the previous July edition of the Emerging Infectious Disease, the popular open-access and peer-reviewed journal published by none other than the Center for Disease Control and Prevention from the United States.

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Family clusters of infections have actually helped the spread of the pandemic which has now brought the world's total cases to 2 million and the death toll over 120,000. The first patient of the 10 different cases studied in Guangzhou had previously returned from Wuhan on January 23 where the virus was first reported last December.

The person then had lunch with three family members the following day at a restaurant without windows using only air conditioner on each floor. The report said that two other families sat near on neighboring tables, with only about one three feet between them and an overlapping time of about an hour.

The first patient under observation

The very first patient was reported to have fever and cough later that day and was brought to the hospital. Within two weeks, four of the other members of their family, three members of the second family, and two other members of the third family had become ill with COVID-19.

After the detailed investigation, it was actually found that the only known source of exposure for the second as well as third families was the first person in the restaurant.

It also said that another 73 different customers who dined on the same floor were then identified as having close contact with the first infected patient, but were then found out to not have any symptoms of the COVID-19 during a 14-day quarantine and also provided throat swab samples that then tested negative. No staff working in the restaurant was found positive of the coronavirus.

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According to the report, "To prevent the spread of the virus in restaurants, we recommend increasing the distance between tables and improving ventilation."

The team in Guangzhou stated that their research had certain limitations because they did not conduct an experimental study which would stimulate the full airborne transmission route, nor perform antibody studies of the swab sample-negative, asymptomatic family members and also other diners to estimate the total risk of infection.