COVID-19 and indoor air quality

While we have focused all our attention on the spread of Coronavirus, and we are thinking about the necessary precautions that we need to put in place to reduce our chances of coming in contact with COVID at the present. Coronavirus is not the only disease, germ, virus, or pollutant we need to combat. One of the ways we all can be proactive and protect themselves from getting sick in general is by educating ourselves on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and its effects.

Scientists believe that the main transmission mode of the Coronavirus is by respiratory droplets, which may travel several feet from someone who is coughing or sneezing. Covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze is the first step to control the spread. However, residual contaminants can travel through the air, and be circulated and can contribute to the spread of an airborne virus. The Coronavirus has the same traits as other viruses such as the common cold, the flu, and a sore throat, by how it is spread from person-to-person.

The European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) has warned that polluted air in urban areas that causes hypertension, diabetes and other respiratory illness could also lead to a higher overall death toll from the current coronavirus which is sweeping the world.

According to a report in The Guardian Sara De Matteis, at Cagliari University, Italy, and a member of the environmental health committee of the European Respiratory Society said “Patients with chronic lung and heart conditions caused or worsened by long-term exposure to air pollution are less able to fight off lung infections and more likely to die. This is likely also the case for Covid-19, by lowering air pollution levels we can help the most vulnerable in their fight against this and any possible future pandemics.”