The key is disinfecting the air, scientists say.
 | By Alexandra Sifferlin Senior Staff Editor, Opinion |
From the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, transmission of the coronavirus has been driven largely by many people getting infected all at the same time, often from a single person, otherwise known as superspreader events. |
While so much transmission occurs in these particular moments, much of the arsenal we have for fighting Covid is focused on making everyone safer all the time. At this point, there are many different tools people can use to blunt the impact of a coronavirus infection. Vaccines keep people from becoming severely ill and rapid tests can let people know if they are contagious. Masks worn in indoor settings with a lot of people can help prevent spread. |
But when it comes to large gatherings where people are not wearing masks, these tools will not reliably prevent superspreading. People can still get infections when they are fully vaccinated, and for rapid tests to be most effective, they should be used right before people enter an event, which is tricky to control. So what then? |
In a guest essay today, three experts who study airborne spread of disease argue that disinfecting the air can be a powerful tool, especially when used alongside ventilation and filtration systems. Making sure that buildings are bringing in fresh air, as well as cleaning indoor air, can help limit the germs people come in contact with indoors. The authors specifically argue for wider use of a technology called germicidal ultraviolet light, or GUV, which has been used for decades in places like tuberculosis wards. |
"The coronavirus pandemic has made it clear that removing germs from indoor air needs to be a top priority for preventing coronavirus infections and future pandemics," the authors write. |
Improving indoor air quality is an intervention with high pay off, if buildings are willing to put in the resources to do so. GUV is commercially available, though it comes with cost and installation expertise (though the authors argue the cost isn't prohibitive). What I find especially compelling about it — beyond the fact it can prevent infections — is that it happens in the background and therefore seems much less likely to become politicized. People don't have to change their behavior, or their mind, to be protected. After two years of exhausting fights about interventions like masks, an invisible, effective intervention is a welcome addition to the tool kit for fighting Covid. |
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