The importance of the indoor climate for the risk of infection is great. In our previous post The effect indoor climate has on the risk of infection at work and at school, we show a chart that maps the importance of the indoor climate on the risk of infection.
The reason why the indoor climate is of great importance for the risk of infection is because we humans secrete microdroplets when we cough and sneeze but also when we talk, shout loudly or sing.
The droplets hang in the air and carry the coronavirus with them. If the air is not regularly replaced when ventilating the room, it increases the risk of infection. You can see this in the following simulation.
Below we come up with five factors that are important to remember during the working day or at school, and how you can use the indoor climate to reduce the risk of infection.
The coronavirus and the microdroplets only pile up as time goes by and we humans move around the room at work or at school. It is difficult to define how long it will take before the air needs to be replaced. In the simulation, it can be seen that the droplets are still abounding in the room after 20 minutes, and researchers point out that in the case of droplet-borne diseases, the air must be changed after 15 minutes.
It is a good idea to wear a mask. The mask means that the potentially infected droplets cannot reach your entrance or exit, which limits the risk of infection. In a study compiled by The Lancet, infection rates between 29 population studies were reduced by 66% with those using masks.
When we shout or sing, we secrete more droplets and they also gain more speed and reach further into the room. Therefore, a shouting corona-infected person has a higher risk of infecting others.
A now known factor and the first to be put into use. Distance is important as the drops do not reach far, in ordinary speech. If we ensure that we keep our distance, we can effectively reduce the risk of infection.
As the simulation above shows, the movement of the air has a major impact on the spread of infection - which is why there is a difference between being inside or outside.
Summer is over and we are moving into a heating season where the windows are kept more closed and we stay indoors more. That is why it is more important than ever that we vent.
The more air you get, the better. Lars Østergaard - Senior physician at Skejby Hospital and professor at Aarhus University
The challenge of relying on your ventilation system in these times is that the ventilation system can be the super spreader of the coronavirus, as it can carry the virus around at work or school. In a Chinese restaurant, ten people divided into three families who were sitting together were infected in one hour. The study subsequently showed that the infection was transported through the ventilation system in the restaurant.
The authorities' five 'good advice' contain many other things than a focus on the indoor climate.
At Open, we will expand the five 'good tips' with a sixth:
6) The Danes should ventilate more at workplaces and schools to reduce the risk of infection.
The challenge of airing out can be that we forget it, or don't know when the indoor climate is bad before we can feel it. But then it's too late.
At Öpän, we have rethought the indoor climate from scratch. A simple, intuitive, plug and play solution everyone understands, THE CLOUD . All schools and offices' way to a healthy and prosperous working day.
The CLOUD glows blue when the indoor climate is good, and changes to red when the indoor climate is bad, which is a sign of creating drafts in the room. When the indoor climate is good and the air has changed, the CLOUD changes back to blue.
See how it works here:
Get started right away by going to the CLOUD here , or contact us here .
