Scientists have revealed the ability of pollen to accelerate the spread of coronavirus
Pollen from trees can carry the coronavirus. This was proved by scientists at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus. Their experiment showed that pollen accelerated the spread of SARS-CoV-2 even in light winds. The findings of the researchers are published in Physics of Fluids .
Biologists have paid attention to the relationship between local outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic with the flowering time of various plants. Some scientists have suggested that pollen weakens the immune system and makes the body more vulnerable to infections. Some experts believed that pollen is a kind of “delivery vehicle” of the virus. Dbuk and his university colleague Dimitris Drikakis decided to test the second version. They created a realistic computer model of a blossoming willow tree and a group of people located next to it, including carriers of the coronavirus infection. After the calculations, it turned out that pollen significantly accelerated the spread of coronavirus, even in light winds.
On average, thanks to pollen, SARS-CoV-2 particles fly more than six meters after they are released into the air when they cough or sneeze. Under normal conditions, they fly no more than two meters.
According to scientists, this interaction of pollen particles and the virus could explain the summer surges in the spread of COVID-19 in some regions of the United States and Europe.
