Let’s Clear the Air on Spreading COVID-19

The U.S. White House recently issued a statement saying, ‘It is time for a national conversation on how better indoor air quality can help us live healthier lives.’

On March 23, 2022, the White House stated ‘the most common way COVID-19 is transmitted from one person to another is through tiny airborne particles of the virus hanging in indoor air for minutes or hours after an infected person has been there.' 

While there are various strategies for avoiding breathing that air – from remote work to masking – we can and should talk more about making indoor environments safer by filtering or cleaning the air.

In fact, research shows changing the air in a room multiple times an hour with filtered or clean outdoor air – using a window fan, by using higher MERV filters in a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, using portable air-cleaning devices, and even just opening a window – can reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission – with studies showing five air changes an hour reduce transmission risk by 50%.

And improving indoor air has benefits beyond COVID-19: it will reduce the risk of getting the flu, a common cold, or other diseases spread by air and lead to better overall health outcomes.

Now, we all need to work collectively to make our friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers aware of what we can do or ask for, to make being indoors together safer.

Each of us has a set of simple but powerful actions we can use to bring clean air into the rooms we’re in and clean the air already in the room, concluded the White House statement.

In support of this focus, several U.S. Federal departments and agencies worked together to launch the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge, a call to action for anyone who manages or maintains a building. 

As part of the launch, the Environmental Protection Agency released a practical guide for building managers, contractors, homeowners, and business owners to create an action plan for cleaner indoor air.

Furthermore, join Let’s Clear the Air on COVID, which will kick off at 12:30 pm on March 29, 2022.

CoronavirusToday publishes research-based news.