What’s on the Horizon for Public Health

By Marcia Schroeder, RN, Horizon Public Health

Fall is closing in on us and we’ll soon be closing up our homes and spending more time indoors.  Improving ventilation and filtration in indoor spaces is an important tool in reducing the risk of respiratory viruses like influenza and COVID-19.  Home ventilation and filtration can often be improved with low-cost to moderate-cost steps, like opening windows when the weather allows, using fans or a portable HEPA air cleaner.  The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends taking multiple steps to get the desired result.  

If your home has a central heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC) that has a filter, set the fan to the “on” position instead of “auto” when you have visitors. This allows the fan to run continuously, even if heating or air conditioning is not on. Pleated air filters are more efficient than ordinary furnace filters, but follow the manufacturer’s instructions making sure you install and replace the filter correctly.  A good rule of thumb is to change the filter every three months.  

Filter the air in your home. Using a portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) cleaner can provide filtration if you don’t have a HVAC system and it can improve filtration if you do have one. HEPA filters are the most efficient on the market because they trap particles that people exhale when breathing, talking, singing, coughing or sneezing.  Ensure you choose one that is the right size for the room(s).  Most packaging will tell you the largest size area or room in which the air cleaner is most efficient.

Turn on the exhaust fans in your bathroom and kitchen to help move air outside, especially if you have guests.  Although some stove exhaust fans don’t send the air to the outside, they can still improve air flow and keep virus particles from being concentrated in one place.  It is also recommended to keep the fans on for an hour, to help remove any virus particles that may still be circulating in the air, after your guests leave your home.  Ceiling fans can also improve air flow even when the windows are not open.     

When you have visitors in your home, improving ventilation is one way to reduce the risk of your visitors and you getting COVID-19. Your chances of getting COVID-19 increase the longer you stay in poorly ventilated and enclosed spaces where someone is infected with COVID-19. Additionally, if someone in the home has COVID-19, improving ventilation can help reduce the risk of other people in the home getting COVID-19. 

With good ventilation and filtration the concentration of virus particles in the air of your home will be lower and therefore more healthy.  Of course in addition to these methods, bring as much fresh air into your home as possible, including opening doors and windows when weather allows and it’s safe to keep them open.  

Visit this CDC website for even more tips about healthy home air space: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/Improving-Ventilation-Home.html.