Effect of different setups, protective screens and air supply systems on the exposure to aerosols in a mock-up restaurant

Abstract Social distancing measures to lower the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission limit seating capacity in and constrain restaurants’ ability to operate in an economically sustainable way. Experiments have been conducted in a real-size mock-up of a restaurant, using different table setting and configurations of the ventilation system. The study has analysed the effects on total exposure to aerosols in different settings compared with social distancing. Ventilation rate is the most decisive factor for the total exposure. The particle removal rate is directly proportional to the ventilation rate, while total exposure decreases with higher ventilation rates. At low ventilation rate, setups with protective screens perform comparably or somewhat superior to the social distancing configuration, but effect size is much smaller than for ventilation rate and results are not always significant. Air supply system type does not have significant effect on either total exposure or exposure duration.