While it might be a long time before we have a full understanding of how exactly the virus SARS-CoV-2 spread COVID-19 through cities and communities, what we do know is sufficient for commercial, industrial, and retail operators to begin work on their post-COVID playbooks. In order to defend against both current and future viral outbreaks, companies need to adopt strategies that emphasize indoor air quality and new ventilation solutions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the virus that causes COVID-19 spreads primarily through small respiratory droplet nuclei and aerosols produced from infected humans when they cough, sneeze, talk or even just breathe. With this basic information in mind, it comes as no surprise that many transmissions take place at the office or place of business when people are in close quarters for extended periods of time.
How Hospitals Do it: Ventilation and Industrial Air Filters
Businesses looking for a way to protect their workers from the ongoing threat of infection should look no further than our healthcare system, which has been addressing airborne pathogens for decades.
One of the difficult things about COVID-19, as well as other dangerous pathogens, is the nuclei and aerosols can remain suspended in the air for as many as three to four hours inside a room. This is why hospitals and health centers have invested heavily in research to identify filtration solutions. Appropriate ventilation is capable of replacing, filtering, or re-circulating indoor air at a rate that can significantly reduce the spread of airborne pathogens.
As states, cities, and countries begin to test the waters of re-opening, many businesses are still scrambling to come up with a plan that satisfies their clients, employees, and shareholders all at once.
The next question that arises is whether commercial and industrial segments duplicate the healthcare community’s dedicated commitment in providing cleaner air inside their facilities.
Increased Air Filtration Can Slow COVID-19
Understanding the infection mechanism most likely to increase risks in different facilities requires a dedication to research. If acted on, data is able to drive innovation. While the solution to preventing infections from a particular virus may take longer than we want, the benefits from these attempts provide a higher level of indoor air quality in the interim.
Indoor air quality is directly linked to lung health and healthy lungs are in turn linked to a lower likelihood of serious COVID-19 symptoms. Add this to the growing pile of evidence that IAQ, pandemic or no, is a valuable investment for companies of any size.
About Camfil Clean Air Solutions
For more than half a century, Camfil worldwide has been helping people breathe cleaner air. As a leading manufacturer of premium clean air solutions, we provide commercial and industrial systems for air filtration and air pollution control that improve worker and equipment productivity, minimize energy use, and benefit human health and the environment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Camfil has been applying their decades of experience in biosafety containment, healthcare, and other sectors of the air filtration industry to provide technological solutions for the public as well as in hospitals and healthcare facilities.
Sources
1. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/the-toxins-that-threaten-our-brains/284466/
2. https://news.wsu.edu/2019/06/06/researchers-uncover-indoor-pollution-hazards/
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Camfil USA Air Filters
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