Why You Should Avoid Hotel Elevators During The Pandemic
Suzanne Rowan Kelleher
Forbes Staff
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Studies show that COVID-19 can be transmitted in an elevator, even after an infected person leaves.
Next time you book a hotel, consider asking for a room on a lower floor. Taking the stairs may be good for your health in more ways than one.
There’s a growing body of evidence that using an elevator can increase the risk of contracting COVID-19, including research indicating that the virus can linger in an elevator after an infected person has gotten off.
A recent article in the Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal details how a large COVID-19 outbreak in China was traced back to one asymptomatic individual who infected a neighbor when they used the same elevator in their apartment building — though they were not in the elevator at the same time.
In a new
study from the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering, researchers modeled how the coronavirus spreads in different interior spaces, including an elevator. The researchers factored in the level of ventilation, where the infected person stood in the elevator, and whether or not he spoke while inside.
In the best-case scenario — an infected person simply breathes in a well-ventilated elevator — 78% of emitted particles remain suspended in the air. In the worst case scenario — an infected person speaks in a poorly ventilated elevator — 99% of emitted particles remain suspended in the air. The researchers found that even in a well-ventilated elevator, just under 15% of emitted particles are vented out of the space; in a poorly ventilated elevator, that percentage dropped down to zero percent.
Back in April, Richard Corsi, dean of engineering and computer science at Portland State University, also developed a computer model to calculate how much virus remains in an elevator after an unmasked infected person exited after riding 10 floors, coughing once and talking on a smartphone.
According to Corsi’s calculations, which he
shared on Twitter and later with
The New York Times,
approximately 25 percent of the infected person’s viral particle discharge would still remain in the empty elevator when it returned to the first floor.
“They should put big signs on the elevator: ‘Do Not Speak,’” Corsi told
The New York Times. That is because the virus can spread through tiny particles, called aerosols, that are expelled when people breathe, talk or sing.
Over the past two months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has steadily ramped up its advice for using elevators.
In June, the CDC updated its
travel guidelines for overnight stays to include: “Consider taking the stairs. Otherwise wait to use the elevator until you can either ride alone or only with people from your household.”
Last month, the CDC posted much
more detailed guidance regarding elevators in office buildings, which can be applied to using any elevator in any building. The key recommendations are:
- Wear a face covering inside the elevator.
- Avoid speaking, if possible.
- Limit the number of people in an elevator.
- Don’t touch anything. Use an object like a pen cap or your knuckle to push elevator buttons.
- Follow floor markings that identify where passengers should stand.
- Wash your hands and avoid touching your face after holding on to handrails or touching buttons.
And updated CDC guidance for people living in
shared housing now reads, “If you see people in areas that are small, like stairwells and elevators, consider going one at a time.”
Elevator anxiety has even started popping up in hotel reviews on travel sites like TripAdvisor and Expedia. Here are a few examples from the past week:
“People in elevators not wearing masks, and many people in an elevator at one time constantly. Not a lot of managerial supervision at all,” complained one TripAdvisor user about the Allegria Hotel in Long Beach, New York.
“How are they managing elevators with sold out weekends, 4 elevators, and Covid 19?,” a traveler wondered about the Dream Inn Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California. “They told me that they are allowing only 3 people or 1 family in the elevator at a time. I'm concerned about horrendously long lines that are sketchy unsafe b/c of lack of social distancing.”
Then there’s the Expedia reviewer who wrote of Sheraton Steamboat Resort Villas in Steamboat Springs, Colorado: “The COVID-19 restrictions on elevator use made for some long waits.”
Luckily there’s a simple remedy for that last problem: Book a room on a lower floor, and take the stairs.