Model and Validation Study for Optimizing Students’ Positions in Classrooms to Limit the Spread of Infectious Diseases Such as COVID

Abstract

Classrooms at any educational institution have become high-risk sites for contagion during past and present pandemic periods caused by the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) viral siege, given the prolonged time educators and students spend in joint activity. Among the several strategies employed by educational institutions to minimize the outbreak of contagion are regulating classroom capacity and studying the optimal spatial arrangement of students. The architectural features of each classroom, which include corridors, ventilation components, total volume, and maximum capacity, among other factors, have a direct impact on the risk of human contagion. This work is a proposal to optimize the spatial arrangement of students to minimize the risk of contagion, considering not only the distance between them, but also the different architectural features in the classrooms. The analyses conducted in the different scenarios conclude with a comparison of risk in terms of the arrangement of students that various educators would have used at different education levels in their classrooms based solely on intuitive criteria. The results indicate that in some situations, the locations chosen by educators can double the risk of infection compared to optimal arrangements.