Patient/caregiver was educated on measures to improve ventilation in home for COVID-19 as follows:
- Good ventilation with adequate airflow in the house can help dissipate disease causing virus in the air around, thus preventing the virus particles from accumulating in the home.
- Ventilation, along with compliance with other measures, such as, maintaining social distance of at least 6 feet apart from others, wearing masks, and use of other personal protective equipment can help prevent an individual from getting infected with COVID-19 and spreading the same for others around.
- The following measures may be adopted to improve the ventilation standards of dwellings, which can contribute to lowering risk for COVID-19 infection.
- Discourage or limit any friends and family members coming to visit you. Risk for COVID transmission is directly proportional to the number of occupants/visitors and the longer they are close together in a set amount of space. If a gathering is inevitable, notify the participants regarding the protocol to be observed, such as, appropriately wearing a mask and observing social distancing. Also, try gathering in larger rooms or in an open space, such as, a backyard, which can facilitate maintaining the protocol of social distancing. Limiting the gatherings to shorter time periods can be of immense help.
- Allow as much fresh air into the home as possible. To accommodate this, open the doors and windows to the extent possible and allow the natural airflow. This prevents viral particles, if any, from accumulating inside the house too longer and thus reduces the risk of residents breathing in the same, leading to infection. Individuals with personal history or family member history of seasonal allergies and/or living in heavily polluted environments, and/or other breathing problems can observe moderation with keeping the doors and windows open, as it can increase risk for exposure to environmental allergens and/or pollutants, thus contributing to breathing difficulty and consequent complications.
- Individuals living in dwellings that have a HVAC unit, should have the unit serviced periodically, usually once every year or as recommended, by a professional. With HVAC units that have a fan operation controlled by a thermostat, the default position of the fan could have been set at “auto”, which allows the fan to run only at the defined setting. Change the setting on the fan to “on” position from “auto” when you are arranging for a family gathering at your home. This allows the fan to run continuously, irrespective to the setting on the HVAC system. The continuous running of the fan helps to prevent viral particles, if any, from accumulating inside the house too longer and thus reduces the risk of occupants breathing in the same, leading to infection.
