SCHOOLS: I'm presenting today for a State DPH on steps schools can take on ventilation. Re-sharing some things I hope people find helpful (all available since summer 2020)
Simple #HealthyBuilding strategies: more ventilation, better filtration, portable air cleaners, VERIFY
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But, as I've been saying since March 2020, you can't just say 'more outdoor air' without giving a specific target. My recs is 4-6 ACH.
How can I determine if my classroom is meeting these targets? We have a simple 5-step guide for how to do this.
If you're using CO2 to determine ventilation, the 'how to' is covered in the 5-step guide. You can also use our cool little tool to help set a target CO2 level based on your ACH target. (works for offices and any other place, too! link to tool: forhealth.org/tools/co2-calc…
If you're using portable air cleaners, but not sure how to size them for the room, we have a tool for that, too. (rule of thumb: look for CADR of 300 for every 500 square feet)
The multiple benefits beyond covid and infectious disease are well-documented for every age group, and go well-beyond air quality (blow up the pic and read that table (!)
March 4, 2020. repeat of my Feb 2020 article essentially, but this time for US audience. (NYT rejected this piece in JANUARY 2020. Took me another 6 weeks to convince them...) nytimes.com/2020/03/04/opi…
“The White House is inviting building owners and operators across the country to join us in our efforts to continue fighting the spread of COVID-19 by publicly pledging to meet the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge.” whitehouse.gov/cleanindoorair/
The Challenge: 4 Key Commitments
Leaders, owners, and operators of businesses, schools, and other buildings participating in the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge have raised their hands and pledged to take four action steps
WE’VE LONG KNOWN THAT BUILDINGS can make us sick. And yes, sometimes the solution is as easy as opening a window, as Florence Nightingale told us long ago. But at some point, we lost our way.
We forgot these basic lessons from centuries ago, that bringing in more fresh air is a simple—but effective—infection control measure. Since the days of mech ventilation, with each revision of the ventilation standard leading to less fresh air and more tightly sealed buildings,
I understand the concern that Biden saying “pandemic is over” might lead people to let down guard/not get boosted. But that wasn’t his full quote. He started by saying: “We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lotta work on it.”
Here’s an inadvertent issue…
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Those expressing concern that Biden message might lead to letting down guard, may actually be *contributing to* the problem they are concerned about by amplifying only half of his message
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ie, if you say that ‘Biden is throwing his hands up’ when he said ‘pandemic over’, without pairing it w the statement that he said there’s still a problem to be dealt with, you’re just telling people that the president thinks we’re all done. Which isn’t what he said.
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--> 195 countries closed schools during the pandemic, affecting more than 1·5 billion children and young people and posing enormous long-term and unrecoverable costs to them, their parents, and the economy.
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--> School closures have had devastating effects on student learning, mental health, socioemotional outcomes, and lifetime earning potential, such as education backslides, increasing drop-out rates, and increased abuse and neglect.
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--> In-person schooling was deprioritised even as other non-essential or less essential community and economic activities continued.care centres, schools, or universities.
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