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Virus Risk Indicator

For buildings where people thrive but viruses don't. Reduce the survival rate of airborne virus and the risk of it spreading with Wave Plus for Business.


Airthings for Business wants to help schools, offices and other commercial buildings stay one step ahead of their virus transmission risk.

How does airborne virus spread indoors?

The science behind the Virus Risk Indicator

What you can do

The most common routes of transmission for viruses are via microscopic airborne droplets, larger droplets through sneezing or coughing, and surface contact. Distancing and cleaning habits can help mitigate two of those, but what about the tiny droplets we can’t see? These microscopic droplets can stay viable in the air for long periods of time and travel through a building.


Understand your risk

By monitoring the air you can understand which areas in your building have elevated airborne virus transmission risk. Different areas might need a different approach, and data is needed to plan preventive measures.


Take action

Know what to do and where using virus risk insights and risk analysis reports in the Dashboard. With continuous monitoring you can check that your methods are working, and receive alerts when your virus risk creeps up.


Put people at ease

Indoor air quality monitoring helps you keep in line with new and emerging recommendations. Do what you can to create a safe environment for building occupants, and show them that you’re prioritizing their health.

How does it work?

The Virus Risk Indicator looks at four factors of airborne virus risk to rank your risk level out of 10. These four factors use data based on three existing sensors in our flagship product Wave Plus for Business: CO2, temperature and humidity.

Virus survival rate

How long airborne viruses remain viable infectious airborne microdroplets remain viable in the air.

Ventilation rate

The risk of airborne virus transmission is affected by the dilution of the air, not just recycling of air.

Room occupancy

Rooms with a dense occupancy increase the chance of people breathing each other's breath.

The body's natural defences

The effectiveness of our immune system to defend against airborne virus is affected by temperature and humidity.

How to use the Virus Risk Indicator

Get started
Identify risk

We have built the Virus Risk Indicator into our Airthings for Business solution so that existing customers can start generating virus risk reports straight away. New customers can get started with the Airthings for Business solution within minutes.


Generate a virus risk insight report to understand the risk of virus spreading in all monitored areas of your building. Risk reduction suggestions are tailored to which factors are causing your Virus Risk to spike, so you know what to do where.


Set up alert notifications based on your own chosen thresholds, so you know when and where action is needed.


What do my virus risk levels mean?


Normal level. You should aim to keep your risk at this level where the chance of airborne virus transmission is lowered.


Action level. The point at which you should take action and follow some of the suggested insights in the dashboard to lower your risk back to Normal levels.


Warning level. Virus transmission risk is high. Action should be taken straight away using the tailored suggestions in the dashboard. 

What the Virus Risk Indicator doesn’t do

  • Address all transmission routes: The Virus Risk Indicator only takes into account the microdroplets that stay in the air a long time and can travel long distances indoors. It does not look at other factors such as surface contact and sneeze droplets which are much larger and naturally drop to the ground after 6 feet.
  • Stop virus: The Virus Risk Indicator doesn’t stop or kill viruses in a building, but it gives an indication of how high the risk of airborne transmission is. This lets you take action to help mitigate the risk of airborne microdroplets passing from one person to another.
  • Act as a COVID-19-specific indicator: The Virus Risk Indicator can be used for all airborne viruses, such as flu, and isn’t only applicable for COVID-19.

Have any questions about our Virus Risk Indicator or looking to get started?


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