A £1.35m research project aims to make indoor spaces safer from the spread of Covid-19.
Experts from five UK universities are taking part in the project called RELIANT.
They will develop an online tool to predict the spread of airborne droplets of fluid across spaces like shops, restaurants and schools.
Airborne droplets can contain particles of the Covid-19 virus, produced when people carrying the infection breathe, cough, sneeze or speak.
The system will run on mobile devices and computers and allow custom-built models of any indoor space.
Cutting the risk of infection
It is thought this will help visualise how changes in seating arrangements, number of occupants and amount of ventilation will affect how droplets are transported around the area.
It will also be able to model the impact of face masks on the spread of droplets.
Professor Andrea Cammarano, of the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering, is RELIANT’s principal investigator.
He said: “Social distancing and the use of masks are two of the most effective measures in helping prevent the spread of Covid-19.
“While vaccines are rolling out around the world, it’s likely that we will still need to maintain some level of social distancing for quite some time into the future.
“In the meantime, however, we still need to share indoor spaces with each other in places like schools, supermarkets and gyms.
“Businesses, too, need to be able to stay open wherever possible to keep the economy running.
“Currently, there’s no unified system to help people decide how best to minimise the risk of infection indoors.
“Our hope is that RELIANT will provide an easy-to-use platform to help anyone who has a responsibility for health and safety in an indoor space to keep people safe, both while we’re dealing with Covid-19 and similar pandemics.”