Beyond Plexiglass: Scientists Say This Simple Solution Could Keep VP Debate Safer In a bid to protect the candidates from the coronavirus, the stage for Wednesday night's VP Debate 2020 in Salt Lake City will feature plexiglass barriers between Vice President Pence and Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California. Concerns about viral spread are heightened in light of the outbreak in the White House. But as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged this week, the virus can spread through the air. Given that fact, scientists say plexiglass barriers alone may not be enough protection if one of the candidates is infected and exhaling virus. Though it's unclear what other precautions the debate commission may be implementing, some researchers are suggesting a simple solution: Put a localized air cleaning device right next to the candidates. "The problem is that a plexiglass barrier does not block aerosols; it only blocks spray," says Donald Milton, an infectious disease aerobiologist at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. While plexiglass can block respiratory droplets coming from the candidates' mouths, that kind of spray is more of a concern when people are within about 6 feet of each other, he says. But the vice presidential candidates will be more than 12 feet apart onstage at the University of Utah, and at that distance, "what's going to get you is aerosols," Milton says. Those are tiny airborne particles that are generated when we speak, sing, cough or breathe, and they can float around a partition, farther than 6 feet. If there's not enough ventilation in a room, they can build up. "That's what we are concerned about," he says. The idea, they note, originated with Richard Corsi, an indoor air quality expert at Portland State University. Basically, you take a box fan and duct-tape a HEPA air filter to the front of it. Then you place a fan on either side of the speaker. One box fan would be blowing toward the speaker, while the other fan would be blowing away from the speaker. "The idea is that you can clean the air that is coming towards you, so you remove as much particles as possible with the HEPA filter and fan that is coming to you. And then as you're breathing out, another fan and HEPA filter takes your air in" to filter it, Srebric says. Plexiglass Barriers Won’t Stop the Virus at the Debate, Experts Warn It comes at a chaotic moment in Washington. Coronavirus is spreading rapidly through Trump's White House and among his top campaign allies. And on Tuesday, Trump abruptly halted stimulus talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pence and Harris share tickets with two of the oldest men to run for president -- the 74-year-old Trump and the 77-year-old Democratic nominee, Joe Biden -- putting an extra emphasis on their roles as the second in command.