

Covid-19 research
We are drawing on our extensive experience in air quality to support the fight against Covid-19. In collaboration with partners around the world, we are part of the international effort making a case for the recognition of airborne transmission.

Figure 1. Distribution of ΔPM2.5 versus traffic population (in million) during the lockdown period compared with the previous five years (2015-19) in five Indian cities.

Figure 2. Sketch design showing the experimental set-up and main components of the filter testing rig at GCARE Air Quality Lab.

Figure 3. The main components of the facemask filter testing rig including a nebuliser (to generate aerosols/particles at various size diameters), solenoid switching system (for parallel sampling at different locations), and DMS500 fast particulate analyser.

Figure 4. Real-time measurement of particles, which were created as a result of burning a candle inside the burning chamber, measured before and after a facemask filter.

Figure 5. Sample performance analysis, which shows lognormal size distribution (number and mass), filtration efficiency, penetration efficiency, and pressure difference across the filter during the course of filter testing.

Figure 6. The aerosol distribution around different seats in a cabin (Woodward et al., 2020)

Figure 7. The setup to map the aerosol distribution over adjacent seats during continued aerosol release.
Related publications
- Kumar, P., Morawska, L., 2019. Could fighting airborne transmission be the next line of defence against COVID-19 spread?. City and Environment Interactions 4, 100033.
- Kumar, P., Hama, S., Omidvarborna, H., Sharma, A., Sahani, J., Abhijith, K.V., Debele, S.E., Zavala-Reyes, J.C., Barwise, Y., Tiwari, A., 2020. Temporary reduction in fine particulate matter due to ‘anthropogenic emissions switch-off’ during COVID-19 lockdown in Indian cities. Sustainable Cities and Society 62, 102382.
- RAMP guidance document, 2020. The ventilation of buildings and other mitigating measures forCOVID-19: a focus on winter 2020.The Royal Society ‘Rapid Assistance for Modelling the Pandemic (RAMP)’ project, Task 7: Environmental and aerosol transmission, September 30, 2020.
- Sannigrahi, S., Molter, A., Kumar, P., Zhang, Q., Basu, B., Basu, A.S., Pilla, F., 2020. Examining the status of improved air quality due to COVID-19 lockdown and an associated reduction in anthropogenic emissions. medRxiv.
- Sloan Brittain, O., Wood, H., Kumar, P., 2020. Prioritising indoor air quality in building design can mitigate future airborne viral outbreaks. Cities & Health, 1-4.
- Sharma, A., Kumar, P., Omidvarborna, H., 2020. Evaluating filtration efficacy of novel filter media technologies to mitigate young children traffic exposures (in preparation).
- Woodward, H., Kumar, P., Linden, P., et al. 2020. Train paper Air flow experiments on a class 802 train carriage (in preparation).
- Kumar, P., Kalaiarasan, G., Porter, A. E., Pinna, A., Kłosowski, M. M., Demokritou, P., Chung, K. F., Pain, C., Arvind, D. K., Arcucci, R., Adcock, I. M., Dilliway, C., 2020. An overview of methods of fine and ultrafine particle collection for physicochemical characterisation and toxicity assessments. Science of the Total Environment 143553.
Get in contact
Contact us if you would like further information about our research activities in Covid-19, or are interested in collaborating on these projects.

Professor Prashant Kumar
Professor and Chair in Air Quality and Health; Founding Director, Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE)