Schools need to know classrooms’ air quality
Schools need to know classrooms’ air quality to protect against COVID. But governments aren’t measuring it properly.
Professor Geoff Hanmer, School of Architecture
Students have returned to school in New South Wales and Victoria after weeks of lockdowns. Along with vaccination and masks, experts have flagged good ventilation as one of the key factors in reducing the probability of COVID infection in schools.
COVID is rarely transmitted outside. The US Centers for Disease Control in the US say the chance of transmission outside is much less than being inside a building. Some have estimated the risk of transmission outside is as low as 0.1% of the risk inside.
The risk of transmission reduces as the amount of fresh air ventilation increases. This is why adequate ventilation is a crucial factor in mitigating transmission risk, and why governments are encouraging people to meet and eat outside.
Read the full story in The Conversation: Schools need to know classrooms’ air quality to protect against COVID. But governments aren’t measuring it properly
