Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-covid-19-science-table-low-income-neighbourhoods-hardest-hit-pandemic-1.6390882
Low income areas in Ontario have borne the brunt of COVID-19 in every single wave of the pandemic, the latest data from the province shows.
In new modelling released on Thursday, the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table says this finding was evident even in the fifth wave fuelled by the Omicron variant.
Source: https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/event-presentations/2021/covid-19-hvac.pdf?sc_lang=en
As we move into a new phase of pandemic, how can we achieve safety against COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses/indoor air quality issues
Source: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19/covid-19-air-both-problem-and-solution
On March 28, 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) tweeted out, “FACT: #COVID19 is NOT airborne.”
For medical doctors and biomedical scientists (including me), this made sense. Few diseases were known to be airborne.
But to aerosol scientists, this was both puzzling and infuriating.
Over the next two years, the WHO and other organizations that had initially denied that the new coronavirus could stay in the air and move around like smoke quietly changed their stance.
Source: https://www.utoronto.ca/news/really-big-deal-u-t-s-colin-furness-why-ventilation-key-fighting-covid-19
As the weather turns colder and people move indoors, the University of Toronto’s Colin Furness is emphasizing the importance of proper ventilation to combat the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.
The expert in infection control epidemiology and COVID-19 pandemic management says it’s well-established in the medical community that airborne transmission is major contributor to the spread SARS‑CoV‑2. But he notes that public health regulations have often been slow to catch up, leaving many businesses and other organizations with less-than-optimal safeguards.
Source: https://canada.constructconnect.com/joc/news/ohs/2021/10/ventilation-a-powerful-aid-in-covid-prevention-toolbox
Ventilation can be a powerful tool in preventing the spread of COVID-19, especially as inclement weather sets in and construction workers are in closer quarters or warming stations.
Conditions are especially challenging for construction industry as it deals with shielded or partially constructed buildings when weather is a consideration to renovations that have an operating HVAC systems in place. Authorities point out that finding the right ventilation protocol will depend on the building site and that ventilation is only another layer in the defence against the virus spread. Yet, it remains an important facet.
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.
Source: https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/92564
Last week the CDC changed its guidance about the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, recognizing airborne spread as a key mode of infection.
The new guidance acknowledges that inhalation of aerosols — which are tiny, lightweight viral particles that can float and linger in the air for extended periods of time — is one way COVID-19 spreads. Even when an infectious person is more than 6 feet away, aerosols have the ability to travel and infect others. Following a similar change made recently by the World Health Organization (WHO), the CDC guidance acknowledges three primary routes of SARS-CoV-2 transmission: inhalation into the lungs, deposition of droplets onto the face, or touching infected surfaces, also known as fomites.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/04/health/239-experts-with-one-big-claim-the-coronavirus-is-airborne.html
The W.H.O. has resisted mounting evidence that viral particles floating indoors are infectious, some scientists say. The agency maintains the research is still inconclusive. The coronavirus is finding new victims worldwide, in bars and restaurants, offices, markets and casinos, giving rise to frightening clusters of infection that increasingly confirm what many scientists have been saying for months: The virus lingers in the air indoors, infecting those nearby.
Source: https://www.zehnderamerica.com/why-ventilation-should-be-separate-from-heating-and-cooling-systems/
We often get asked if our HRVs and ERVs can be coupled with a building’s heating and cooling system. It makes sense, right? If there is already a system of ducts in place for the furnace and or air conditioning system, why have a second parallel system? While it may be less expensive to combine the two systems together and it may save a little space, the project is better served by having independent systems that each focus on their task. This blog entry will explain the reasoning why. Note that for simplicity in writing I will use “HRV” to represent either an HRV or ERV system and “air handler” to represent a furnace, air conditioning system, heat pump etc – whatever forced-air system is meeting the heating and cooling needs of the building.
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