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With mask mandates virtually gone and vaccinaton rates at a standstill = one mitigation measure that can still make a big difference: ventilation

Razoo

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This powerful Covid-19 mitigation measure is invisible
With mask mandates virtually gone and vaccinaton rates at a standstill, there's one mitigation measure that can still make a big difference: ventilation.

Keep air circulation moving in all enclosed structures...... can we say fans.
 
"I could be smoking a cigarette, you could be a couple of feet from me, depending which way the wind was blowing, you may not even know I'm smoking."

If you're indoors, you could be breathing in less fresh air than you think.

"Everybody in a room together is constantly breathing air that just came out of the lungs of other people in that room. And depending on the ventilation rate, it could be as much as 3% or 4% of the air you're breathing just came out of the lungs of other people in that room," Allen said.

He describes this as respiratory backwash.

"Normally, that's not a problem, right? We do this all the time. We're always exchanging our respiratory microbiomes with each other. But if someone's sick and infectious ... those aerosols can carry the virus. That's a problem."

It's airborne​

"We've known for decades how to keep people safe in buildings from infection, from airborne infectious diseases like this one," Allen said.

From the beginning of the pandemic, Allen and other experts have waved red flags, saying that the way we were thinking about transmission of Covid-19 -- surfaces, large respiratory droplets -- was missing the point.

"Hand washing and social distancing are appropriate but, in our view, insufficient to provide protection from virus-carrying respiratory microdroplets released into the air by infected people.

This problem is especially acute in indoor or enclosed environments, particularly those that are crowded and have inadequate ventilation," hundreds of scientists stated in an open letter in July 2020.

Eventually, the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged what the experts had been saying all along: that Covid-19 could also spread by small aerosolized particles that can travel more than 6 feet.

In Washington's Covid-19 outbreak, new variants flout old 'close contact' rule

The coronavirus itself is very small -- about 0.1 microns -- but that doesn't affect how far it can travel.

"The size of the virus itself doesn't matter because, as we say, the virus is never naked in air. In other words, the virus is always traveling in respiratory particles that develop in our lungs. And those are all different sizes," Allen said.

Singing or coughing can emit particles as large as 100 microns (almost the width of a human hair), he said, but the virus tends to travel in smaller particles -- between 1 and 5 microns.

The size of these particles affects not only how far it can travel but how deeply we can breathe it into our lungs, and how we should approach protecting ourselves from this virus.

"When you're talking about an airborne disease, there's the what's right around you, you know, the sort of the people who you know can cough in your face, the 6 feet thing, and then there's the broader indoor air, because indoor air is recirculated," said Max Sherman, a leader on the Epidemic Task Force for the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

Dilute and clean​

"Outdoors is safer than indoors" has become an accepted mantra with Covid-19. Allen points out that protecting ourselves indoors is where our focus should always be, even beyond the pandemic.

"We're [an] indoors species. We spend 90% of our time indoors. The air we breathe indoors has a massive impact on our health, whether you think about infectious disease or anything else, but it just has escaped the public consciousness for a long time," he said.

Making sure our indoor air is healthy is not that complicated, Sherman said. "You just want to reduce the number of particles that might be carrying Covid or any other nasty [virus]."

The way you do that is through ventilation and filtration.

Filtration -- just like it sounds -- is filtering or cleaning the air, removing the infected particles. But think of ventilation as diluting the air. You're bringing more fresh air in to reduce the concentration of those particles.

Dilution is exactly why we haven't seen superspreader events outdoors, Allen says.

"We have hardly any transmission outdoors. Why is that? Unlimited dilution, because you have unlimited ventilation. And so, even in crowded protests or outdoor sporting events like the Super Bowl, we just don't see superspreading happening. But if we did, we'd have the signal be loud and clear. We just don't see it.

It's all indoors in these underperforming, unhealthy spaces."

more:​

Healthy spaces​


 
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electric or manual?
 
So I am pleased to announce that there are plenty of fans available ..... in this home.
 
electric or manual?
You obviously need exercise as your question indicates thus fresh air is good for brain cells in combination with the manual fan.........

you're welcome
 
I support requiring vaccinations to work onsite. I had to do that to go to grad school back in the day.
 
I support requiring vaccinations to work onsite. I had to do that to go to grad school back in the day.
the other sensible approach. Vaccinations and fans = partners in medicine

I'm thinking that per usual a surge will occur in the fall.
 
You obviously need exercise as your question indicates thus fresh air is good for brain cells in combination with the manual fan.........

you're welcome
I'm on it!

 
the other sensible approach. Vaccinations and fans = partners in medicine

I'm thinking that per usual a surge will occur in the fall.
That would suck.
 

A gamechanger for schools​

School districts all over the country have been jumping at the opportunity for ventilation upgrades made possible by an influx of federal funding.

An analysis in February by FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy, found that public schools had earmarked $4.4 billion for HVAC projects, which could grow to almost $10 billion if trends continued.

As masks become optional, kids take their health into their own hands

New Hampshire's Manchester School District is pouring almost $35 million into upgrading HVAC systems, and interim Superintendent Jennifer Gillis says federal funding is "absolutely key."

"You think about a district of our size with all the competing demands and the need to be fiscally responsible, a $35 million project, that's a large project to introduce to our budget. Having those funds available to us lets us do 19 projects -- and 19 projects in a very short span of time."

For Gillis, ventilation has been an important mitigation strategy and an unobtrusive way to keep people safe.

"It's something that most in the building don't think about, but it's a very passive way for us to create safety within the schools. Since the beginning, the goal was always 'let's get our kids in, let's get our staff in, but let's do it in a way that's safe for all of them.' "

Good ventilation isn't only about keeping students safe from Covid-19, Sherman says. It can also improve their performance in school.

"They're going to learn better; they're going to be awake more; they're going to be more receptive. They're going to be healthier if they've got good indoor air quality," he said.


"If a single fan is used, it should be facing (and blowing air) in the same direction the air is naturally moving. You can determine the direction the air is naturally moving by observing the movement of drapes or by holding a light fabric or dropping paper clippings and noting which direction they move," the EPA says.

Just cracking a window can help a lot, Allen says: "Even propping a window open a couple inches to really facilitate higher air changes, especially if you do it in multiple places in the house, so you can create some pressure differentials."

It's important to note that if you have an HVAC system, it must be running to actually circulate or filter the air. The EPA says that these systems run less than 25% of the time during heating and cooling seasons.

"Most of the controls these days have a setting where you can run the fan on low all the time. And that's usually the best thing to do because that makes sure you're getting you're pushing air through the filter all the time and mixing the air up in your in your home," Sherman advised.

This could be something to keep in mind if you're going to have visitors or if someone in the household is at higher risk for severe illness.

Choose the most efficient filter your HVAC system can handle, and make sure you routinely change the filters.

Filters have a minimum efficiency reporting value, or MERV, rating that indicates how well they capture small particles. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers recommends using at least a MERV-13 filter, which it says is at least 85% efficient at capturing particles from 1 to 3 microns.

If that's not an option, portable air filters can also work well, but the EPA says to use one that is made for the intended room size and meets at least one of these criteria:
  • Designed as high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)
  • CADR rated
  • Manufacturer says the device will remove most particles below 1 micron
School districts all over the country have been jumping at the opportunity for ventilation upgrades made possible by an influx of federal funding.

Good ventilation isn't only about keeping students safe from Covid-19, Sherman says. It can also improve their performance in school.

"They're going to learn better; they're going to be awake more; they're going to be more receptive. They're going to be healthier if they've got good indoor air quality," he said.
 
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www.cnn.com

This powerful Covid-19 mitigation measure is invisible

With mask mandates virtually gone and vaccinaton rates at a standstill, there's one mitigation measure that can still make a big difference: ventilation.
www.cnn.com

Finally front and center​

Helping solidify ventilation's role in the Covid-19 battle, the Biden administration announced a Clean Air in Buildings Challenge last month.

The challenge calls on building operators and owners to improve ventilation by following guidelines laid out by the EPA.

The main actions include creating a clean indoor air action plan, optimizing fresh air ventilation, enhancing air filtration and cleaning, and engaging the building community by communicating with occupants to increase awareness, commitment and participation.

The message may seem overdue, but it's one that Allen enthusiastically welcomed.

"The White House used its pulpit to say unequivocally that clean air and buildings matter. That's massive. Regardless of what you think about what will happen next with implementation or what happens with the funding. That is a crystal-clear message that is already being heard by businesses, nonprofits, universities and state leaders. I see these changes happening already."
 
this makes sense and it is not rocket science.....
 
With this mind anti maskers and anti vaccine people may want to place a mandate on themselves to help
curtail this situation : LONG COVID


 
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