CRI Guardiair HEPA can be Mobile or Stationary

Thailand in Lockdown After COVID Surge

Kauai in Modified Lockdown Due to Virus

Experts Say Hi-Fi Masks are a Quick Fix for India

Electrostatically Charged Nanofiber Media has N98 Efficiency and Low Pressure Drop

School Outbreak Tied to Faulty HVAC System in Pennsylvania

K-12 Schools Still have a Long Way to Go to Improve HVAC

 

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CRI Guardiair HEPA can be Mobile or Stationary

Cleanroom International Guardiair’s rigorously tested technology collects particles as small as 0.3 microns, including respiratory droplets with 99.99% efficiency. The optional integrated UV-C lamp and ULPA filter can further increase the level of filtration and decontamination. While air filtration alone cannot account for all potential sources of infection, Guardiair can effectively help to mitigate the risk of airborne coronavirus.

Guardiair can supply HEPA-standard air filtration as both a free-standing mobile appliance or an installed component, making it easier and simpler than ever before to set up clean environments. Additional units can be used to increase the filtration capacity of larger spaces, and Guardiair can be moved from room-to-room depending on needs; so several units can be used to meet variable occupancy needs throughout a facility.

Guardiair is actually capable of cleanroom-grade performance. Like a lifeguard on duty or a fire extinguisher ready-to-go, when Guardiair is in the room, people can feel more confident and breathe easier.

Features

1. GS HEPA filter: 99.99% efficiency at 0.3 microns*
2. MERV 8 prefilter
3. Indicator light for changing the HEPA filter
4. Variable speed control
5. Perforated aluminum face screen
6. Casters with brakes
7. Power cord
8. Optional integrated UV-C high-output germicidal lamp

 

*Optional ULPA filter 99.9995% efficiency with a most penetrating particle size (MPPS)

 

Thailand in Lockdown After COVID Surge

Restaurants closed and bordered up May 3 following an order to shut all food outlets due to a COVID-19 resurgence in Thailand. The restaurants and bars on the Sukhumvit Road area of the capital Bangkok were all packed with tourists just 18 months ago before the coronavirus pandemic strangled international travel. Hopes that the industry would recover were dashed again last month following an outbreak of infections of the British strain of the virus and the introduction of a third nationwide lockdown, set to last several more weeks. Restaurants closed on May 1 as measures were tightened to try and control the spread of new infections. Ministers have also introduced 20,000 baht (456 GBP) fines for not wearing a mask outdoors. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was recently fined 6,000 baht (138 GBP)after taking his mask off during a cabinet meeting on April 26. Officials hope that a vaccination roll-out will allow tourists to return to the country – once the most popular in the world for tourists – by the start of 2022. The country recorded 2,041 new COVID-19 cases on Monday (May 3) and 31 deaths, taking the total number of infections recording since the pandemic began to 71,025 with 276 dead.

 

Kauai in Modified Lockdown Due to Virus

Amid a rise in coronavirus cases, Kauai will move into Tier 3 of the Kauai Business and Recreation Guidelines on Thursday, and Mayor Derek Kawakami has proposed amendments to further restrict indoor gatherings while still allowing outdoor sports.

If approved by Gov. David Ige, the amendments will cut indoor social gatherings to five people from 10 in Tier 3, although outdoor gatherings will be expanded to 25 people from 10.

The changes in sports means Tier 3 restrictions would be the same as Tier 4, which allows outdoor sports. Indoor sports “with restrictions” will be allowed as well.

“When we created the tier chart last year, we were facing the reality that any rise in case counts put our most vulnerable population at risk,” said Kawakami in a statement. “It’s also important that the tier restrictions reflect where we are seeing transmission. Therefore, we are revising our tier chart to allow outdoor activities such as sports, while further limiting indoor group sizes. If you must gather with people outside of your home, stay outdoors and wear your mask.”

Department of Health officials have traced the source of multiple clusters of COVID-19 transmission to two Lihue restaurants on Kauai, where cases have spiked in the last few weeks and were up to 16 Saturday with 66 active cases.

Infectious persons also attended two events, one in Lihue and one in Kapaa.

“A number of our recent new COVID cases spent time at Rob’s Good Times Grill in Lihue and/or Troy’s Bar in Lihue between April 16 and 29, and we have evidence that disease transmission took place, Dr. Janet Berreman, Kauai District Health Officer, said.

Anyone who was at either establishment from April 16 to April 29 may have been exposed to a confirmed case of the disease and are encouraged to get tested as soon as possible.

The Health Department said persons infected with COVID-19 attended on April 24 the Ekolu Mea Nui drive-in concert at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue and the Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort Brunch Babes show in Kapaa April 17 and 18.

Although COVID-19 guidelines were in place at both events, health officials encourage those who attended the events to be tested.

 

Experts Say Hi-Fi Masks are a Quick Fix for India

Devabhaktuni Srikrishna and several other experts have provided important recommendations for mask use in India in a NY Times article. This group has participated in some of our webinars and provided valuable insights on masking in the past,

They believe India is facing one of the greatest crises in its history and maybe the worst of any country during this horrific pandemic. Hospitals are running out of beds, staff and oxygen. Patients are dying in such large numbers that the bodies of the deceased are being cremated in mass funerals. The country is recording more than 300,000 new detected infections and over 3,000 deaths a day — both of which, experts say, are massive undercounts because of severely limited testing and don’t account for the terrible burden of diarrheal diseases, heart attacks and other conditions going untreated.

While some initiatives are forming to provide materials to scale vaccine production, these efforts will take weeks or months to have any effect — India will not be able to vaccinate its way out of this surge quickly, no matter what. Even if the United States were to donate all of its vaccine doses to India now, it would still take months to immunize enough people to control the outbreak. Lockdowns, as some states and cities are reinstituting, can quickly stunt transmission of the virus, but in a country with high rates of poverty, informal work and unreliable social safety nets, restrictions need to be implemented with adequate social and economic support for the vulnerable.

India has a number of such programs in policy and on paper, but their actual implementation is fraught even in non-crisis times; none of that was enough to offset the fallout from the first set of lockdowns. Any new lockdowns may inadvertently drive people doing informal work in cities back to their villages, where they may carry the coronavirus and further spread the pandemic.

But two other interventions could be implemented almost immediately to counter the tsunami of infection: more masks and rapid home-based antigen tests. The White House is sending millions of such masks and tests to India as part of the U.S. emergency assistance, which is a good start. But with more than 1.3 billion people in India, much more will be needed.

The coronavirus is transmitted by respiratory particles, including smaller aerosols that can get through or around many cloth masks. “Hi-fi” masks that have both high-grade filtration and a tight fit around the mouth and nose can more reliably block these particles. A number of such masks exist, including N95s and reusable elastomeric masks from the United States, KN95s from China, KF94s from South Korea and FFP2s from Europe. India needs to urgently assess the availability of these masks and begin a campaign to procure and distribute them in huge numbers. 

One U.S. manufacturer, for example, has openly offered to donate hundreds of millions of such masks. India should also make efforts to accelerate domestic production. Another option would be to mass-produce and distribute “mask-fitters” that enhance the seal formed by surgical masks, which are ubiquitously available throughout India and have sufficient filtration to block most particles that transmit the virus. The fitters have simple designs made from common materials, allowing for immediate scale-up of their production. One makeshift approach that can be used until other options are available would be double-masking, with a cloth mask used over a surgical mask to improve its fit. 

If worn widely when indoors and among crowds, these options could rapidly impede transmission. They can be mass-distributed through existing channels such as the national food supplementation system, which has a designated person in each village to distribute food rations. In addition, public uptake of such masks will require politicians and celebrities — some of whom have, in recent months, not been wearing masks in public — to promote them now.

The second intervention that can have an immediate effect is the large-scale deployment of rapid antigen tests that can provide results in minutes and be administered by community health workers (who are already in place nationally in India) or even possibly by people themselves. Currently, India relies on PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, testing. But given the sheer volume and pace of virus transmission, PCR cannot be scaled widely enough nor deliver results fast enough to identify those infected before they transmit to others or become sick. Some experts have argued against using such rapid tests because they can sometimes result in false negatives or false positives. Studies, however, have shown that rapid tests tend to be accurate when people are most infectious and could be used every few days so that an infection missed on one day is likely to be detected by the next test. False-positive results can also be offset by using PCR or another rapid test that targets a different antigen to confirm the diagnosis.

Another challenge is whether people who screen positive will have the space and resources to isolate safely. This is tough to solve in a crisis, but communities could perhaps designate buildings or spaces in cities and villages for people to isolate with food and other essential needs supplied to them.

Even if implemented imperfectly, widespread rapid testing would still be better than the alternative of people not getting tested. If done at scale, this approach could help cut off enough chains of transmission to help reduce the surge. As with masks, India needs to urgently assess the global supply chain for rapid tests so available supplies can be imported and deployed as soon as possible.

If pursued nationally with global support, hi-fi masks and rapid tests could be scaled up within a matter of weeks alongside efforts to engage communities on why these measures are important and how to employ them. These measures could damp the exploding rates of infection while longer-term interventions to boost care capacity and vaccination take root. Masks and rapid antigen tests should be used urgently to start pushing back the tide. Without these urgent interventions to slow transmission, the crisis is likely to get much worse before it gets better — and thousands more lives will be lost.

 

Previous articles on the work of Devabhaktuni Srikrishna  using the search function  in CTS

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1. McIlvaine Coronavirus Market Alert

... mask program January 28 - Outline of the three steps February 2 - Step 3 Devabhaktuni Srikrishna founder of PatientKnowhow will be reporting on his recent survey to determine what masks ...

Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 28  -  4 Feb 2021  -  URL: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/coronavirus/subscriber/Alerts/2021-02-04/Alert_20210204.html

2. McIlvaine Coronavirus Market Alert

... CST On Friday, February 5 we will discuss the three step plan authored by Devabhaktuni Srikrishna is the founder of Patient Knowhow , which curates patient educational content on YouTube ...

Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 15  -  28 Jan 2021  -  URL: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/coronavirus/subscriber/Alerts/2021-01-28/Alert_20210128.html

3. McIlvaine Coronavirus Market Alert

... McIlvaine at rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com Details on Mask Options are Available from Fix the Mask Devabhaktuni Srikrishna is the founder of Patient Knowhow https://www.patientknowhow.com/about/ ...

Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 11  -  11 Jan 2021  -  URL: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/coronavirus/subscriber/Alerts/2021-01-11/Alert_20210111.html

4. McIlvaine Coronavirus Market Alert

... to see that efficacious masks are used, and that is all happening quickly. Devabhaktuni Srikrishna of Patient Knowhow provided details on a very valuable study showing which masks are ...

Terms matched: 1  -  Score: 7  -  5 Feb 2021  -  URL: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/coronavirus/subscriber/Alerts/2021-02-05/Alert_20210205.html

 

Electrostatically Charged Nanofiber Media has N98 Efficiency and Low Pressure Drop

We are continuing to pursue the question of whether alternatives to meltblowns can provide acceptable efficiency in masks while maintaining good breathability.

Wallace Leung of Hong Kong Polytechnic University has participated in some of our webinars and has done extensive research on nanofiber media.  His testing shows that charged nanofiber media can result in superior mask efficiency.

The test filters were arranged in 2, 4, and 6 multiple-modules stack-up with each module having 0.765 g/m² of charged PVDF nanofibers (mean diameter 525±191nm). This configuration minimized electrical interference among neighboring charged nanofibers and reduced flow resistance in the filter. For ambient aerosol size greater than 80nm (applicable to the smallest COVID-19), the electrostatic effect contributes 100 - 180% more efficiency to the existing mechanical efficiency (due to diffusion and interception) depending on the number of modules in the filter. By stacking-up modules to increase fiber basis weight in the filter, a 6-layer charged nanofiber filter achieved 88%, 88% and 96% filtration efficiency for, respectively, 55nm, 100nm and 300nm ambient aerosol. This is very close to attaining our set goal of 90%-efficiency on the 100nm ambient aerosol. The pressure drop for the 6-layer nanofiber filter was only 26Pa (2.65 mm water column) which was below our goal of 30Pa (3.1mm water).

For the test multi-module filters, a high ‘quality factor’ (efficiency-to-pressure-drop ratio) of about 0.1 to 0.13Pa⁻¹ can be consistently maintained, which was far better than conventional filters. Using the same PVDF 6-layer charged nanofiber filter, laboratory tests results using monodispersed NaCl aerosols of 50, 100, and 300nm yielded filtration efficiency, respectively, 92%, 94% and 98% (qualified for N98 standard) with same pressure drop of 26Pa. The 2-6% discrepancy in efficiency for the NaCl aerosols was primarily attributed to the absence of interaction among aerosols of different sizes. This discrepancy can be further reduced with increase number of modules in the filter and for larger 300nm aerosol.  

The 6-layer charged nanofiber filter was qualified as a N98 respirator (98% efficiency for 300nm NaCl aerosols) but with pressure drop of only 2.65-mm water which was 1/10 below conventional N95 with 25-mm (exhaling) to 35-mm (inhaling) water column, and also far below that of conventional N98! The 6-layer charged PVDF nanofiber filter provides good personal protection against airborne COVID-19 virus and nano-aerosols from pollution based on the N98 standard, yet it is at least 10X more breathable than a conventional N98 respirator.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340865821_Charged_PVDF_multilayer_nanofiber_filter_in_filtering_simulated_airborne_novel_coronavirus_COVID-19_using_ambient_nano-aerosols

 

 

School Outbreak Tied to Faulty HVAC System in Pennsylvania

Late last month, eight second-grade students from a single classroom at Penn Valley Elementary School in the Lower Merion School District near Philadelphia, Pa., tested positive for coronavirus. Officials are calling it the first instance of significant in-school transmission in the district. Because of the number of students affected, staff conducted an investigation and discovered a potential cause for the spread.

The LMSD Operations Department assessed the HVAC system of the classroom in question and found that a portion of the ductwork in the ceiling “was far too closed, allowing only (approximately) 30% of the maximum amount of fresh air it should have into this specific room,” said Terry Quinlan, the district’s lead supervisor of school health and student safety. Quinlan added that, with the current information, the district “cannot say definitively whether the diminished fresh airflow contributed to the outbreak; however, it could be a factor.”

The Montgomery County Office of Public Health (MCOPH) noted that the spread could also be due in part to a variant strain of COVID-19, “citing both the rapid spread within the class and the fact that two vaccinated family members of impacted students have also tested positive,” according to the district website.

All members of the second-grade class in question have been in quarantine since April 16. The district is in the process of performing indoor air quality tests at all buildings.

Lower Marion School District spokesperson Amy Buckman had no comment on improper social distancing might have contributed to the spread. However, she said that classrooms across the district are spacing students at least three feet apart in accordance with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, and that “this is the only outbreak impacting this number of students that we’ve seen.”

Quinlan said that district ventilation systems exceeded all standards prior to the pandemic and had been upgraded since then. MERV 13 filters have been installed throughout the district, as well as bipolar ionization devices in larger spaces.

 

K-12 Schools Still have a Long Way to Go to Improve HVAC

K-12 schools have implemented some protective measures to improve indoor air quality in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, prioritizing ventilation and filtration to reduce the transmission of the virus, says a report released April 29 by the Center for Green Schools of the U.S. Green Building Council. However, school districts still have unmet IAQ needs and face numerous challenges related to costs and outdated building infrastructure, as well as confusion over conflicting IAQ improvement guidance from different groups, reports “Preparation in the Pandemic: How Schools Implemented Air Quality Measures to Protect Occupants from COVID-19.”

 

 

The study is “important because it helps us understand how existing guidance documents were used so that we can develop part of a roadmap to achieve better IAQ in schools,” says Corey Metzger, the schools team leader for the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force and a principal of Resources Consulting Engineers LLC. ASHRAE, formerly known as the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, provided the Center for Green Schools with technical assistance for the study.

Eighty-five percent of survey participants say they referred to ASHRAE's IAQ guidance documents, when making changes. More than 70% said they used guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and nearly 60% said they referred to guidance from the state/local departments of public health or education. Other documents mentioned by respondents are from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Institute of Architects, the U.S. Green Building Council, the World Health Organization and the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Some surveyed complained there were too many materials from too many sources that contained too many different pieces of advice. Many called for a single guide, jointly created by the various bodies, but there is no such effort planned. “We have not to my knowledge made an attempt to create” a document with input from the various groups, says Metzger.

Anisa Heming, director of the Center for Green Schools, concurs. She adds, “I believe the source of much of the confusion has come from shifting messages out of the CDC on building ventilation. CDC is not taking input from the community of practice.”

Other findings of the 28-page report relate to the funding of K-12 school education and infrastructure, which is “fundamentally inequitable, given its reliance on local wealth. The pandemic has only served to further entrench those inequities along racial and socioeconomic lines,” says the report.

The study contains responses to questions about protocols and operations plans implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 that were gathered from 47 districts representing more than 4,000 schools serving over 2.5 million students in 24 states.

Overwhelmingly, comments from survey participants and interview respondents credited any success of IAQ efforts relating to the coronavirus response to prompt leadership, a cache of preexisting wealth in well-funded districts and/or past investments in infrastructure.

“School districts without funding to keep their buildings in good condition are in the worst position to manage air quality during this and future pandemics,” says Heming.

For those districts not well funded, she adds, there may be help from the federal government to upgrade heating ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Since December, the federal government has approved $176 billion in emergency COVID-19 relief aid for K-12 schools, including $54 billion in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, known as the December Relief Act, and $122 billion in the American Rescue Plan Act. “Design professionals have a big role to play in educating the school systems in their areas that the money can be used for facilities,” Heming says. “Because there are so many allowable uses for those funds going to schools, it’s easy to miss all the opportunities,” she adds.

The published guidance by the various groups converges on six major IAQ strategies: Increase fresh air through mechanical ventilation; Increase outdoor air supply through the HVAC system; Implement a flushing process between occupancy periods where the HVAC system runs for a pre-specified duration or until a target of clean air changes has been reached; Increase outdoor air through the use of operable windows; Open windows to increase the outdoor flow; Place fans in windows to exhaust room air to the outdoors; Remove airborne contaminants through filtration; Upgrade to filters with higher minimum efficiency reporting values (MERV) ratings, with MERV 13 or better as a target for removing airborne viral particles in recirculating systems (MERV ratings range from 1-16, with 16 being the most efficient filtration); Install air cleaners with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters.

The most frequently cited challenge to implementing protective IAQ measures at schools is existing physical plants not designed to support the various recommended strategies.  

School districts that have been able to act have leaned heavily on their mechanical systems, such as increasing air supply through HVAC systems or upgrading filters to implement protective air quality measures for students and teachers.

The installation of higher-grade MERV filters in at least some of the schools in the district significantly increased by 120% during the pandemic. Many school districts believed their mechanical ventilation systems were too old to be compatible with newer filters.

High cost and lack of availability of filters due to increased demand were also issues. Some schools told stories of being sold MERV filters that were mislabeled and ended up having lower than anticipated ratings. Others mentioned they had inadequate staffing for filter inspection and maintenance.

Over half of participants estimated that energy costs were either moderately more or a lot more. But 21% of participants estimated that their IAQ efforts had no impact on costs.

It’s long been widely accepted that “better IAQ means better results for students,” says Metzger. “The pandemic made it a bigger issue than in the past.”