Low risk of Covid-19 infection on planes if masks worn: US military

The risk of being infected with the coronavirus on an airliner is very low if passengers wear masks, according to a study carried out aboard Boeing long-haul jets by the US military and published Thursday.

Researchers using sensors and fluorescent tracers measured the volume of airborne contagious matter emitted by a dummy simulating an infected person breathing normally.

The passengers most exposed to the infected person — those just in front of, behind or beside the dummy — were represented in the study by the sensors.

Some 300 test rounds were carried out on the ground and in flight over the course of eight straight days in August in cooperation with United Airlines on Boeing 767 and 777 jetliners.