Research during the COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the role that aerosols play in spreading disease. “In the 21st century we need to establish the foundations to ensure that the air in our buildings is clean with a significantly reduced pathogen count, contributing to the building occupants’ health, just as we expect for the water coming out of our taps.” The paper states: “A paradigm shift is needed on the scale that occurred when Chadwick’s Sanitary Report in 1842 led the British government to encourage cities to organise clean water supplies and centralised sewage systems. Historically, public health regulations have concentrated on sanitation, drinking water and food safety, whereas the risk from airborne pathogens - whether flu or COVID-19 - has been according to the paper “addressed fairly weakly, if at all, in terms of regulations, standards, and building design and operation, pertaining to the air we breathe.” “If public places have a ‘ventilation certificate’, much like being health and safety certified, we will see restaurants more easily regaining diners’ trust, and employees more confidently returning to offices.” “We all want to be confident that the air in our homes and the buildings and restaurants we visit is clean just as we are assured that the water coming out of our taps is safe for us to drink. “Bringing fresh air into a room and removing older stale air that contains virus particles reduces the chance of spreading COVID-19 the more fresh air that is brought inside, the quicker any airborne virus will be removed from the room. They present a particular threat because the risks shoot up when virus particles accumulate in buildings. Published in the journal Science, the study highlights how building ventilation standards are now critical as a preventative measure to mitigate airborne transmission routes - likening ventilation standards in buildings to be where water sanitation was in the 1800s.ĭr Julian Tang, Honorary Associate Professor and Clinical Virologist of Respiratory Sciences at the University of Leicester is one of the scientists involved in the study: “Health authorities have singled out indoor spaces with poor ventilation as potential infection hotspots. The call by 40 scientists comes days before further lockdown restrictions are eased on 17 May, as a scientific consensus continues to grow about the airborne transmission of coronavirus. Scientists from across fourteen different countries have today (Thursday) appealed to government for a ‘paradigm shift’ in improving indoor ventilation standards, as part of efforts to combat airborne COVID-19 virus transmission.
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