Scots join UK effort to track Covid-19 indoors

Researchers behind the creation of a £1.35 million Coviddroplet tracker hope the new online tool will aid decisions about how the country moves out of lockdown.

Engineers from five UK universities, including two from Scotland, are using fluid modelling techniques to track the spread of infected airborne droplets across areas like shops, restaurants and schools in the hope of making indoor spaces safer.

Experts in modelling, computation and fluid mechanics will work together for the next 18 months to create an online tool capable of predicting the spread of droplets carrying infection through breath, coughs, sneezing or speech.

The system, called Reliant, is set to run on mobile devices and computers and allow users to custom-build detailed models of any indoor space and visualise how changes in seating, number of occupants and amount of ventilation affect the transport of droplets around the area.

The software will also be able to model the impact of face-masks on the spread.

Professor Andrea Cammarano, of Glasgow University’s James Watt School of Engineering, said: “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 for any similar pandemics we might face in coming years.”

Cambridge, Strathclyde, Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London are all contributing.