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Washington – A new webpage released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is intended to help employers and building managers improve the ventilation system in their facilities to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The CDC recommends ventilation as part of a “layered strategy” that includes physical distance and the use of face coverings to help reduce the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 – the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 – in indoor air.
“The lower the concentration, the less likely some of these viral particles are to be inhaled into your lungs; come into contact with your eyes, nose and mouth; or fall from the air to collect on surfaces, ”the webpage states. “Protective ventilation practices and interventions can reduce the concentration in the air, reducing the overall viral dose to occupants.
The agency’s recommendations for better ventilation include:
- Increase the ventilation of the outside air, but be careful if your installation is in a highly polluted area.
- Open windows and doors to the outside, but only when weather conditions permit and this does not create a risk to safety or health (eg.
- Use of fans to improve the efficiency of open windows. However, do not place fans in a configuration that could circulate potentially contaminated air from one person to another. One strategy is to use a fan placed securely in a window.
- Decreasing occupancy in areas where outdoor ventilation is not possible.
- Ensure that toilet exhaust fans are operating at full capacity when a building is occupied.
- Using a high efficiency portable particulate air fan / filtration system to help improve air cleaning, especially in high risk areas like a nurse’s office
In addition, CDC recommends that HVAC systems be operated at “maximum outside air flow” for two hours before and after occupying a building. The agency’s webpage includes a set of strategies with corresponding estimated costs, as well as answers to the list of frequently asked questions about building ventilation.
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