FEATURE
COVID increases need to maximise ventilation in new builds
O
ur understanding of how the SARSCoV-2 virus, responsible for COVID-19, is transmitted from person to person has changed significantly since the start of the pandemic. Initial belief was that the virus was predominantly transmitted from touching contaminated surfaces and being exposed to someone sneezing and coughing. Scientific evidence has now confirmed that the airborne transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not only a significant, but likely the major infection pathway involved in the spread of COVID-191,2,3,4,5.
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MBA NSW | Issue One | January-March 2022
Airborne transmission of the virus is where virus particles move from person to person in tiny aerosol or water droplets exhaled by an infected person. Aerosol particles exhaled by an infected person can remain suspended in air for a long period of time when compared to the heavier droplets expelled during coughing and sneezing.
and much further than the 1.5 metre physical distancing requirements currently mandated in public settings. Effective strategies available to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus include vaccination, physical distancing requirements, and the quarantining of infected persons.
As a result, they can build up in a small unventilated area.
Research has shown that increased ventilation in a building can reduce the chance of influenza spreading in a building.
Also depending on the air movement patterns of a particular area, exhaled aerosol particles can travel a significant distance, much further than droplets generated by a sneeze or cough
A study published in 2019 found that providing even minimum levels of outdoor air ventilation reduced influenza transmission as much as having 50-60% of the people in a building
