The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) science and technology (S&T) directorate has launched an online tool designed to calculate the airborne decay of the SARS-CoV-2 virus under varying scenarios. The airborne predictive model will employ the results of an ongoing DHS S&T research to analyze environmental factors that affect the virus' capacity to spread, the department said Friday.
The tool will work under a humidity range of 20 to 70 percent, a temperature range of 50 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit and sunlight with an ultraviolet index up to 10. DHS seeks to mitigate the human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 via the tool.
William Bryan, senior official performing the duties of the undersecretary for science and technology at DHS, said the model will enable the medical community, officials and various users to potentially make informed decisions. DHS S&T's research suggests the virus maintains its stability indoors and is least stable under sunlight.