!['We're in for a world of hurt': Edmonton aerosol specialist warns about risks of indoor dining 'We're in for a world of hurt': Edmonton aerosol specialist warns about risks of indoor dining](https://taprootyeg.blob.core.windows.net/stories/2021-the-pulse/ConorRuzycki.jpg)
'We're in for a world of hurt': Edmonton aerosol specialist warns about risks of indoor dining
While some Edmontonians celebrated restaurants opening their doors for dine-in service on Feb. 8, aerosol specialist Conor Ruzycki said he was “very frustrated by the situation.”
"We've decided to reopen indoor dining in (Alberta) despite the better judgement of basically everyone who understands how this virus spreads,” Ruzycki tweeted on the day restaurant restrictions were relaxed.
Ruzycki has been studying pharmaceutical aerosols for about 10 years and is a PhD candidate in the University of Alberta's mechanical engineering department. Since COVID-19 arrived in Canada last year, he has been researching mask and filtration technology. He said that Alberta's decision to open restaurants and bars for dine-in service has the potential to severely damage its efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The main problem with the decision to reopen, he told Taproot, is that it does not adequately consider the role of aerosol transmission in how the virus spreads, which is a particularly big factor in indoor spaces. Aerosols are small particles that can stay suspended in the air, and they can easily fill the space they are in.
"When you used to be able to smoke in restaurants, I remember going into places that would have smoking sections ... and you could see a big cloud in the space," he said. "That cloud is made up of aerosols."
Similar, invisible clouds of tiny COVID-19 particles can form over time as carriers of the virus, even if they are asymptomatic, take the time to sit down, talk to their cohort, order food, and eat. Ruzycki said that the current provincial health guidelines do not properly allow people to avoid or protect against
"There is this assumption that COVID-19 is only being spread by these really big droplets that fall to the ground immediately," he said. "With aerosols, they don't just fall to the ground. When you're sharing an indoor space with somebody else, there's no real concept of safe distance."