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Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

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Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#91

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

sjg007 wrote: post #70
taeric wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Annoyingly, my intuitive impression is that we are still far more ignorant than we'd care to admit. Being in a place where we all willingly wear masks to grocery shop, I get the impression we are far more cautious than most places. Still, I expect it is just a matter of time before we are exposed. Why? I honestly don't know. It isn't lack of wanting to be safer. But it has gotten fatiguing to try to keep up with what…

I have had the flu twice. The first was in college and then second was when my kids were in pre-school/elementary school.

I think you mean "I have had flu-related symptoms twice". Given that influenza is a virus with a huge number of variations, and almost nobody is ever tested for infection with any of them, there's every chance that you've had many more influenza infections, but no symptoms.

Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#92

Post by justusw »

IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #12

To this day, there is no mandate whatsoever in any public transport to keep windows open. NiH? CDC? Missing in action thanks a lot. Uber could simply ask customers to always ask for windows down. This to me is the biggest unsung crime of the pandemic by govt officials and private industry alike.

In Tokyo most train companies agreed to keep the windows open at all times and encourage passengers to lower the windows if they see a closed one. Cooperation is very high and I only see them closed when it rains.

Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#93

Post by sjg007 »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #91
sjg007 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had the flu twice. The first was in college and then second was when my kids were in pre-school/elementary school.

I think you mean "I have had flu-related symptoms twice". Given that influenza is a virus with a huge number of variations, and almost nobody is ever tested for infection with any of them, there's every chance that you've had many more influenza infections, but no symptoms.

Nope these were confirmed cases.

Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#94

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

sjg007 wrote: post #93
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you mean "I have had flu-related symptoms twice". Given that influenza is a virus with a huge number of variations, and almost nobody is ever tested for infection with any of them, there's every chance that you've had many more influenza infections, but no symptoms.

Nope these were confirmed cases.

Yes, I understand that the times you had symptoms, the infection was confirmed to be flu.

What wasn't tested (or detected) were the times when you were asymptommatic but still infected with one the many influenza variants.

English is a little problematic when it comes to describing infectious disease. In all cases, there is the disease agent (e.g. an influenza virus) and there are the disease symptoms (e.g. "flu"). But we tend to say "I had the flu" without it being clear if we mean "the disease agent was present" or "i had the symptoms".

Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#95

Post by aspaceman »

doubled112 wrote: post #62
mlyle wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a teacher at a school. - We eat outside. - We have filters upgraded to MERV-13 and the fans run the entire school day. - We have windows and doors open on all classrooms, except for A) a few that don't open outside, or B) when it's rainy/windy to the point it's not possible. We have small, secondary HEPA filters that we run in those circumstances. (Often, we're blaring AC or heat into a room with all doors and wi…

My kid's school doesn't have windows that open. It's too new for that.

Is that really a newer thing?

My ancient high school had 45-degree windows (for theft and suicide prevention I imagine). Why lock it all down? Cost?

Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#96

Post by Eelongate »

willyt wrote: post #72

> Pumping in adequate amounts of fresh outside air, however engineered, will challenge running costs as well as carbon status. This is wrong. Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation (MVHR) is a well established technology which can recycle 96% of the heat from the waste air in a house. It costs about the same to fit as a central heating system. Passive houses have very high Air Changes per Hour (ACH) compared to convent…

In much of the world for much of the year, it doesn't get below freezing for at least part of the day. The solution to the heating problem is simple then: simply don't. Open windows when it's above 50F / 10C (to give a healthy safety margin to the water pipes) and tell people to wear sweaters.

Do this where it's possible and you'll offset the energy expenditure of heating in places were it actually earnestly gets cold. And for that matter, limit their thermostats to 50F / 10C too. Being able to wear t-shirts in the winter when there's a blizzard outside is an absurd luxury.

Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#97

Post by mlyle »

marcosdumay wrote: post #83
mlyle wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MERV-13 is pretty good. Better than 90% filtration at 1 micrometer and up. It then comes down to how many air changes you can expect.

> Better than 90% filtration at 1 micrometer and up. What means it's probably useless against any airbone virus. But it's pretty great against particle pollution, in case you want to use it in a private space.

Viruses don't circulate bare in the air. Droplets containing viruses do. It's thought that it's mostly carried within droplets that are 5um or larger.

Just in case smaller particles have a substantial role, I quoted the 1um number.

Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#98

Post by Angostura »

nicoburns wrote: post #4

This agrees with my intuitive impression of everything I've read on Covid-19: that the primary transmission vector is through the being in unventilated or poorly ventilated enclosed spaces with an infected person for ~15 minutes or longer. I definitely feel like neither governmental policies or people's individual precautions and behaviours quite reflect that reality.

The UK government is running ads https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-campaign-to-stop-covi...

Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#99

Post by Eelongate »

doubled112 wrote: post #62
mlyle wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a teacher at a school. - We eat outside. - We have filters upgraded to MERV-13 and the fans run the entire school day. - We have windows and doors open on all classrooms, except for A) a few that don't open outside, or B) when it's rainy/windy to the point it's not possible. We have small, secondary HEPA filters that we run in those circumstances. (Often, we're blaring AC or heat into a room with all doors and wi…

My kid's school doesn't have windows that open. It's too new for that.

There's a tool for that: a brick.

Re: Why don’t we just open the windows? Covid-19 prevention lost in translation

#100

Post by doubled112 »

Eelongate wrote: post #99
doubled112 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My kid's school doesn't have windows that open. It's too new for that.

There's a tool for that: a brick.

True. All windows open. Some are harder to close back up than others.
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