Fig. 5. Hypothetical “reservoir world” simulations feature differing environmental transmission dynamics.

Population and environmental dynamics of SEIR-W model outbreaks in hypothetical settings composed of pure substances where SARS-CoV-2 can survive and be transmitted. (A, B) “aerosol world,” (C, D) “copper world,” “ (E, F) cardboard world,” (G, H) “stainless steel world,” and (I, J) “plastic world.” Environment infectiousness corresponds to the proportion of the environment that contains infectious SARS-CoV-2. Note that the surface where the viral decay is strongest (Copper), the peak of the epidemic is pushed farthest from the origin. Also note the ${\mathcal{R}}_0$ values graphs A, C, E, and G, which highlight that the different “reservoir worlds” behave like fundamentally different outbreaks in several ways.