An examination of requirements for powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) utilization as an alternative to lockdown

Abstract Introduction With the emergence of COVID-19 variants and new viruses, is it uncertain when will the next pandemic strike to us again. The last measure to stop the spread of infection is lockdown, which causes enormous economic and social damage. It is important to find less damaging alternatives to lockdown.Objectives The feasibility of utilizing powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) as an alternative to lockdown and as a means of infection control is discussed. In particular, an outlook on the PAPR wearing rate and PAPR aerosol shielding performance, which are required to adequately control the spread of infection, is obtained.Method The PAPR wearing rate and PAPR aerosol shielding performance necessary to control infection as an alternative to lockdown is investigated using a simple simulation under limited conditions.Results When using a PAPR with 100% aerosol shielding in sir supply, the ratio of people who always wear the PAPR needed to adjust from a critical infection spread situation with the effective reproduction number Rt = 2 to the target effective reproduction number Rt_target = 0.9 is only 55%. When everyone wears PAPR, the reduction ratio in the probability of becoming infected by PAPR supplying air Ir_in needed to adjust from a critical infection spread situation with the effective reproduction number Rt = 2 to the target effective reproduction number Rt_target = 0.9 is only 55%.Conclusions The possibility of utilizing PAPR as a lockdown alternative was demonstrated.