COLLEGE STATION, Texas — We are still in the midst of summer, and for Texas, that means air conditioners on and fans blowing top speed.
According to the World Health Organization, coronavirus can be spread through the air when the respiratory droplets stay over long distances and periods of time. That's why maintaining good indoor air quality may help control the spread of COVID-19.
“There are three factors that we have to worry about inside of buildings. The first one is filtration systems, so the air that’s pulled back in through the return air and pushed back out to us in the room, it goes through a filter. The level of filter that we have is important. So if you have a MERV 11 or higher filter in your home or business, that will give you very similar protection to what you’re used to with the better quality mask like the N95," said Texas A&M School of Public Health Dr. Mark Benden.
The second factor for good indoor air quality is how much of the air inside a room is actually going through the filter system in an hour.
“Imagine all the air in the room being pulled back through that filter. If it happens five or six or more times per hour, that’s a pretty good rate of exchange. We like to see that at six or above," said Dr. Benden.
The number of people you have in the room, the location of these air vents, and how the air is moved across the room all build into the quality of your indoor air.
The last factor for good air quality is maintaining fresh air inside, even with your air conditioner and fans on.
“This is super critical in Texas, in the summer, in our homes, because we tend to seal them up really tight because it saves our electricity bill. We have a lower electricity bill, seal our homes a little tight. If you bring in fresh air from the outside, that’s really good, for indoor air quality in general but also for the coronavirus," said Dr. Benden.
Dr. Benden said commercial buildings may be better at monitoring their air systems, but if you are at home, you want to make sure you have the right filtration systems for healthier air.
He also said having fans running constantly can possibly defeat the air flow that was designed for that building. He suggested checking with your facilities to make sure air is flowing the way it is meant to for the best air flow possible.