New research reveals how to reduce risk of airborne​ COVID-19 spread during musical performances

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Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/new-research-reveals-how-to-reduce-risk-of-airborne-covid-19-spread-during-musical-performances-1.5565767

TORONTO — As concerts and live theatre begin to return, a new study says that safety measures such as time limits, social distancing and putting a mask over wind instruments can go a long way in reducing airborne transmission of COVID-19 during performances.

The study was published on Friday in the journal ACS Environmental Au and led by researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder and University of Maryland. The authors investigated the flow of aerosols during musical and theatre performances.

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Airborne transmission of respiratory viruses

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abd9149

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of and a need to update the traditional view of transmission pathways for respiratory viruses. The long-standing definitions of droplet and airborne transmission do not account for the mechanisms by which virus-laden respiratory droplets and aerosols travel through the air and lead to infection. In this Review, we discuss current evidence regarding the transmission of respiratory viruses by aerosols—how they are generated, transported, and deposited, as well as the factors affecting the relative contributions of droplet-spray deposition versus aerosol inhalation as modes of transmission. Improved understanding of aerosol transmission brought about by studies of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection requires a reevaluation of the major transmission pathways for other respiratory viruses, which will allow better-informed controls to reduce airborne transmission.

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Employers hope to breathe easier and limit COVID-19 infections by improving ventilation

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Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-air-quality-workplaces-ventilation-1.6143588

Indoor air quality has become a personal matter for Shawn Stone.

His Toronto-based electronics distribution company, International Electronic Components Inc., which serves the health-care sector, was deemed an essential business by the Ontario government in March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic.

With a dozen or so employees coming in and out of the office when necessary, he tried to follow government guidelines to protect them from COVID-19 — including everything from masking, temperature checks and hand sanitizer, to installing Plexiglass barriers between cubicles.

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We should install air purifiers with HEPA filters in every classroom. It could help with COVID, bushfire smoke and asthma

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Source: https://theconversation.com/we-should-install-air-purifiers-with-hepa-filters-in-every-classroom-it-could-help-with-covid-bushfire-smoke-and-asthma-166332

The smell of hazard reduction burn smoke in Sydney this week is an unwelcome reminder the bushfire season is almost upon us, and with it, the torment of having to breathe toxic air.
Even before the last of the 2019–20 Black Summer smoke dissipated, another deadly reminder of the importance of access to safe air arrived. COVID forced many of us to take a crash course in how to avoid respiratory viruses.

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Many major school ventilation upgrades won’t be ready by September. Here’s what you need to know about the precautions in place

Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/08/09/many-school-ventilation-upgrades-wont-be-ready-by-september-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-other-enormously-important-precautions-in-place.html

It’s a critical tool to keep kids and teachers safe : good ventilation . But as in – person learning returns , some ventilation upgrades funded through a federal – provincial cost sharing program will not be ready in time for September with projected completion dates spanning into next year .

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Flying Taxi Company Joby Aviation Goes Public While Touting Itself as ‘Uber of the Air’

Source: https://gizmodo.com/flying-taxi-company-joby-aviation-goes-public-while-tou-1847471374

Joby Aviation made its debut Wednesday as a publicly trade company on the New York Stock Exchange surging over 25% after opening at a price of $10.62. Joby is currently promising air taxi service for the public by 2024, an ambitious plan for its electric vertical-take-off and landing vehicles, known as eVTOL. What makes Joby’s air taxis better than traditional helicopters? They’re electric and they’re quieter. Otherwise, they accomplish the exact same thing as a helicopter that might carry four passengers and one pilot. How will Joby turn that into a viable business? Presumably, by targeting the wealthy with the promise of fast, TSA-free trips of 150 miles or less.

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The pandemic has made the connection between indoor air quality and human health clearer than ever

Source: https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-says-cleaning-indoor-air-could-make-us-healthier-and-smarter

Joseph Allen runs a major public health research project at Harvard University, probing how indoor air quality affects human health and cognition. He consults with companies on ventilation and air filtration, and during the pandemic he became a prominent voice on public health, writing dozens of op-eds criticizing early guidance from health authorities and debunking misconceptions about how the virus spreads. But none of it would have happened if he hadn’t washed out as an FBI recruit.

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Ontario Further Improving School Ventilation

Source: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000652/ontario-further-improving-school-ventilation

The Ontario government announced additional funding of $25 million to further improve ventilation in schools as students return for in-person learning this fall. This additional funding, which brings the net new investments in school ventilation to $600 million, will ensure that all occupied classrooms, gyms, libraries and other instructional spaces without mechanical ventilation have standalone high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter units in place when students are back in class, including Junior and Senior Kindergarten classrooms in mechanically ventilated schools to recognize that the youngest learners will not be wearing masks in the classroom.

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