Wildfires Result in Toxic Indoor Air

Many Jurisdictions Now Require Vaccines and or Masks  to Enter

Local Mask Mandates are Popping Back Up Across Texas

Louisiana Requires Masks Indoors

Masks Required at Two Indiana Universities

People in India are not Making Proper Use of Masks

Crisis in Southern Florida Hospitals

Good Masks Reduce Risk by Up to 96%

Virginia Schools to Spend $240 Million More for HVAC

Better Air Quality: A Back-To-School Imperative

Why be Concerned About Indoor Air Quality?

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Wildfires Result in Toxic Indoor Air 

While wildfires are an annual occurrence all over the world, destroying natural wonders and causing deforestation, they also result in vast amounts of pollutants into the air. 

The biggest health threat from smoke comes from fine particles. Forest fires generally cause particles of less than 1 micrometers – also known as PM1– that are fine enough to penetrate deep into the lungs.

Additionally, the chemicals generated from these fires are greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O)) and photochemically reactive compounds (e.g., carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic carbon (NMVOC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and ozone (O3). These contaminants can cause a range of health problems, from burning eyes and a runny nose to aggravated chronic heart and lung diseases. 

To combat these toxins, Camfil recommends to stock carbon filters ahead of time in order to avoid supply-chain issues if/when fires impact a local region.

The Camfil. City M includes particulate and molecular filters that deliver a healthier indoor environment by removing dust, contaminants, odors and harmful particles.

 

Many Jurisdictions Now Require Vaccines and or Masks to Enter

In New York City Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced tough new vaccination requirements. People will have to prove they’ve had the vaccine if they want to eat indoors at restaurants, workout in gyms and attend performances. The city will start enforcing the rule on Sept. 13.

In Minnesota, it seems mask mandates are changing by the hour at public buildings, businesses and workplaces. The wave of new mask mandates is only expected to increase as COVID cases continue to rise.

The University of Minnesota is requiring masks for students and staff. Cub Foods and Target are now requiring masks for employees and recommending them for customers. Home Depot is requiring masks for workers and asking that customers wear masks. The manager of the St. Louis Park location said that because there is no state mask mandate, they can’t make people wear masks.

The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul is one of the few places that has implemented a vaccine mandate. All students and staff starting this fall will have to be vaccinated and be ready to wear masks. A number of students told WCCO Tuesday they are against the mandate, but they all declined to go on camera. Those who did, like Lexi Kunze, support the university’s move.

“St. Thomas is setting a really good example for other colleges, and I’m really proud to be going into a university that’s paying attention to the science,” Kunze said.

So, the advice right now is to stand by, and have a stack of masks at the ready as new guidelines are coming every day.

Local Mask Mandates are Popping Back Up Across Texas

Local mask mandates are popping back up across Texas — even as Gov. Greg Abbott has stressed that local officials who try to enforce restrictions aimed at reducing spread of COVID-19 will be penalized.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is the most recent to defy the governor’s order. He announced Monday that the city’s nearly 22,000 city employees will be required to mask up inside city buildings where social distancing is not doable, such as bathrooms, elevators and conference rooms.

“The mayor has a right and responsibility to ask city employees to wear face coverings indoors to help stop the virus from spreading,” Mary Benton, a Turner spokesperson, said to the Houston Chronicle. “With the rise in the delta variant cases and high numbers of unvaccinated individuals, Mayor Turner is doing what is necessary to keep [city] employees healthy.”

The seven-day average of new daily cases in Harris County is 1,761 as of Tuesday, compared with 59 cases in the first week of July.

Statewide, cases and hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been skyrocketing. This week, hospitalizations for people with the virus hit more than 7,300 — which is roughly the number of people hospitalized a year ago when Abbott first implemented a statewide mask mandate.

Abbott’s July executive order says, “no government entity, including a county, city, school district and public health authority” and “any public or private entity that is receiving or will receive public funds” can enforce mask or vaccine mandates. Offenses could lead to fines up to $1,000. Private businesses, however, still have the right to require customers and employees to wear masks.

President Joe Biden called Abbott’s ban on masks and vaccine mandates “the most extreme” of its kind across the country in a statement Tuesday, noting that six other states have imposed similar restrictions.

Louisiana Requires Masks Indoors

Louisianans five years and older are once again required to wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

Face masks that properly cover the wearer’s mouth and nose should be worn indoors at all times, unless a person is in a home, officials said.

Gov. John Bel Edwards reissued the statewide mask mandate amid an unprecedented surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations as the delta variant continues to rapidly spread.

The mandate will be in place at least until Sept. 1., the governor said.

Mask-wearing is required for everyone five years and older. Children younger than five who are enrolled in kindergarten are required to wear one as well.

The Louisiana Department of Health recommends children two to four years old wear a mask even though it is not required.

The exemptions are:

• Anyone who has a medical condition that prevents the wearing of a face covering.
• Anyone who is consuming a drink or food.
• Anyone who is trying to communicate with a person who is hearing impaired.
• Anyone who is giving a speech for broadcast or to an audience.
• Anyone temporarily removing his or her face covering for identification purposes.

Where do you have to wear a mask?

Masks are required at all indoor public places in Louisiana including:

• schools
• businesses
• universities
• churches

Businesses that fail to enforce the mask mandate could be subject to citations, according to the governor’s proclamation.

Why was the mask mandate reissued?

The increased caseload and hospitalizations, most of which involve unvaccinated patients, caused by the variant have put a strain on hospitals across Louisiana and facilities are reporting staffing shortages. Doctors and hospital CEOs joined Edwards in the announcement Monday, pleading for the public to wear masks to help slow the spread.

On Tuesday, there were a record-breaking 2,112 total coronavirus patients in hospitals across the state along with 3,783 more confirmed cases and 53 more confirmed deaths.

Masks Required at Two Indiana Universities

Masks will once again be required on the campuses of Ball State and Indiana University to start the new school year.

Indiana University announced masks will be required indoors for all campuses beginning Thursday, including IU Fort Wayne. In a tweet, the university says this is a time-limited recommendation, with possible changes being considered based on local coronavirus data.

Ball State’s mask mandate will go into effect Monday, Aug. 9. University President Geoffrey Mearns announced the decision in a letter on Wednesday morning.

“I believe this modification to our current mask protocol will enable us this Fall semester to sustain the vibrant on-campus experience that we all value so much,” wrote Mearns.

This mask mandate could be removed based on several factors, such as the number of new coronavirus cases and the number of fully vaccinated students and staff.

Ball State’s decision to mandate masks once again comes as coronavirus cases continue to surge due to the delta variant.

Ball State students begin the new school year on Monday, Aug. 23.

People in India are not Making Proper Use of Masks

A survey, spread over 18 cities was initiated by ApnaMask, an initiative by EkDesh, to understand overall compliance around wearing masks, shows what was suspected all along -- 90% aware but only 44% of India is wearing a face mask.

As the country’s numbers continue to rise, wearing a mask properly, maintaining social distancing and hand hygiene will be the three essentials of prevention of COVID-19.
A little over two months ago about 4,000 people were dying every day from Covid-19 in India. Yet, on a recent Friday, a rooftop bar in New Delhi was once again packed with crowds of young adults mingling without masks.

Among the hundreds at the Summer House Cafe, a popular nightspot in India’s capital city, was Srishtii Guptaa, a 29-year-old graduate student who said she lost several family members to Covid-19 in April and May.

“Life goes on,” said Ms. Guptaa, who resumed her busy social life as soon as lockdown restrictions were lifted. “Nothing stops me from partying.”

For some Indians, life has already returned to normal after a devastating spring surge. In New Delhi and other cities across the country, shoppers are once again crowding stores, diners are squeezing into restaurants, and bars are hosting crowds of revelers. Many have already abandoned safety precautions such as social distancing and wearing a mask.

 

Crisis in Southern Florida Hospitals 

A South Florida hospital chain is suspending elective surgeries and putting beds in conference rooms, an auditorium and even a cafeteria as many more patients seek treatment for Covid-19.
"We are seeing a surge like we've not seen before in terms of the patients coming,'' Memorial Healthcare System's chief medical officer Dr Marc Napp said Wednesday during a news conference in Hollywood.

Napp said they've opened up an additional 250 beds at Memorial's six hospitals in Broward County.
Unlike during last year's spring and summer Covid surges when many sick people tried to avoid hospitals for fear of catching the virus, patients suffering from other ailments are also seeking treatment now, Napp explained.

Good Masks Reduce Risk by Up to 96%

New research  shows that transmission of the virus can be reduced by up to 96.5 percent if both an infected individual and an uninfected individual wear tightly fitted surgical masks or a cloth-and-surgical-mask combination.

Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the C.D.C., announced the findings during a White House coronavirus briefing, and coupled them with a plea for Americans to wear “a well-fitting mask” that has two or more layers. President Biden had challenged Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days of his presidency, and Dr. Walensky said that masks were especially crucial given the concern about new variants circulating.

“With cases hospitalizations and deaths still very high, now is not the time to roll back mask requirements,” she said, adding, “The bottom line is this: Masks work, and they work when they have a good fit and are worn correctly.”

 

Virginia Schools to Spend $240 Million More for HVAC 

Gov. Ralph Northam is proposing Virginia give schools another $250 million in federal pandemic relief money to help pay for heating and air conditioning upgrades.

The General Assembly, which must sign off on the governor’s proposals, will consider this plan and others on how to spend stimulus payments in a special session that starts next Monday. The state expects more than $4.3 billion through the American Rescue Plan.

The state’s boost would be matched by local districts, which would spend $250 million of their own stimulus funding toward HVAC projects to get the state funding, for a total $500 million investment in schools’ heating and cooling systems.

“This investment will help families, educators, and students feel more confident about the quality of the air they breathe as we return to in-person learning five days a week this fall,” Northam said in a news release Monday announcing the proposal.

The federal legislation, which Congress passed in March, gives Virginia wide discretion on how to spend the money, though it can’t use it to cut taxes.

Northam already has advanced a pair of proposals, including spending $700 million on internet access and $353 million on small business relief programs. He and other Democrats in control of the legislature are expected to highlight more proposals this week.

The governor’s proposal would distribute funds based on enrollment, with every district getting at least $200,000. The money would reimburse schools as they finish projects.

Districts have more than $600 million worth of HVAC repairs and replacements planned in coming years, according to numbers compiled by the Virginia Department of Education earlier this year.

Local and state officials have talked for months about using federal relief funds for school construction 一 a pressing need long before the pandemic. Virginia’s public schools are badly aging — more than half are over 50 years old, according to a VDOE report given to a General Assembly commission investigating school construction funding, and about 41% of schools are at or over capacity.

This fiscal year alone, Virginia schools will spend about $1.1 billion on construction with almost no state funding.

Schools already have received billions in previous rounds of pandemic relief payments, but the money came with restrictions that make it almost impossible to use it for new schools or major expansions. That money has to be spent by 2024, giving school divisions too little time to carry out large construction projects.

HVAC renovations don’t take as long. Improving ventilation is also a way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in schools, making spending relief money on HVAC units attractive to public officials.

Better Air Quality: A Back-To-School Imperative

When schools across the country broke for summer vacation after a difficult year of hybrid remote and in-person instruction, leaders and educators had the opportunity to chart a new course before schools reopen in the fall. As we consider potential improvements to our school buildings, we should start with the most basic thing our children, and all people, need to thrive—clean air to breathe.

Long before the pandemic, our country’s education system was facing a crisis in school air quality. One-third of school districts in America have HVAC systems that need to be updated or replaced. Without these upgrades, poor air quality continues to be a result, and that’s dangerous for a number of reasons.

The first reason is that studies show, and CDC infection control guidelines confirm, diseases can spread faster when air quality is compromised—as the last year painfully proved. During the pandemic, many schools switched to remote learning due to the unknowns related to the virus and because many found it hard to provide well-ventilated spaces that were safe for students and teachers. With schools buildings shut down, teachers struggled to connect with some students, children missed out on the social and emotional development fostered by peer interaction, and parents and caretakers juggled an impossible load of work and homeschooling—keeping many out of the workplace and prolonging economic pain.

Second, poor air quality can affect students’ health and their ability to learn in subtle, but nonetheless detrimental, ways. Studies have shown that poor IAQ can contribute to building occupants experiencing symptoms related to asthma, fatigue, irritation and headaches. Poor air quality may prevent students from focusing in class—or sometimes from attending at all. In hopeful news, multiple studies link increased ventilation rates to improved student performance. That said, the Lancet COVID-19 Commission recently reported that American schools are still “chronically under-ventilated,” with 87 in 100 classrooms failing to meet recommended minimum standards.

Since so many schools rely on local property taxes to fund upgrades, facilities in high-poverty districts are more likely to be outdated, disproportionately saddling low-income and minority students with additional barriers to educational success. Providing healthier air for all is both an issue of well-being and social justice.

Students aren’t the only ones affected by the air in schools, either. Millions of educators, administrators, custodial workers, volunteers and parents spend time in and around classrooms. Some even report to be sickened by poor air quality. It’s no coincidence that those teachers’ headaches went away after they moved to a new building with improved ventilation and healthier materials; much of our aging school infrastructure is simply no longer doing its job of providing healthier environments conducive for teaching and learning.

Fortunately, we now have a vital opportunity to fix this problem. The federal government’s COVID-19 relief measures have allocated more than $122 billion to K-12 schools across America, and a portion of that can—and should—be used for critical facility upgrades that improve indoor air quality. It’s encouraging to see school boards and communities prioritizing safer and healthier learning environments as they spend federal dollars. For instance, COVID-19 mitigation plans have been a helpful impetus for school administrators to implement the most recent CDC school ventilation guidelines, like refreshing indoor spaces with outside air, optimizing HVAC systems and replacing and upgrading filters. Air quality audits can also inform if more extensive upgrades need to be performed, which can be done less invasively over the summer.

By combining government funding, on-the-ground knowledge of individual schools and districts, the influence of NGOs and educational associations, and the innovation of manufacturers, improved learning environments are within our grasp. The technology and capability exist; collective action at the community level must follow.

Many schools are answering the call, and some are going one step further: in adopting an even-more comprehensive approach. For example, Fairfax County, Virginia, public schools recently deployed new air quality management policies, emergency preparedness procedures, cleaning protocols and other changes to earn a WELL Health-Safety Rating—an evidence-based, third-party verified rating that ensures organizations are using best practices to support the safety and well-being of their people.

Too often, poor air quality in schools is as invisible to us as the air itself. But the past year has shined a much-needed spotlight on the problem. We should take this opportunity to invest in better air—and, in doing so, invest in the improved performance and well-being of students, teachers and communities.

Why be Concerned About Indoor Air Quality?

IQAir, a Swiss-based air quality technology company explains going back to the classroom can face your family and your child with a great deal of uncertainty.

In addition to COVID-19, many schools experience major indoor air quality issues.

Older school facilities are especially a problem, as many have fallen into disrepair and are built of old materials that can pose a huge air quality risk.

Even newer school facilities can be problematic, using building materials and indoor furnishings that offgas formaldehyde and chemicals into indoor air.
 

No matter the age or state of repair of your school, indoor air can be filled with pollutants from numerous indoor and outdoor sources, including:

·         dust

·         pollen from plants and trees that seeps indoors

·         mold growing in moist areas

·         particulate matter from vehicle pollution and factory emissions

·         bacteria growing on dirty surfaces

·         virus material that can survive on some surfaces for up to 72 hours

·         gases from appliances like stoves, oven, and stovetop burners

·         chemicals used in household cleaners

·         pet dander 

If left uncontrolled, indoor air pollutants can have two major effects on your child’s learning.

First, many indoor air pollutants can trigger allergies and asthma. Mold and dampness alone can increase episodes of severe allergy and asthma symptoms by up to 50%.

Research suggests that allergies and asthma can have a huge impact on your child’s ability to learn:

·         a 1993 study suggested that asthma is linked to physical and psychological effects that can make it harder for children to perform on school work

·         a 2016 study in Norway found that minor increases in pollen levels can reduce individual test scores up to 2.5%, with decreases even higher for students with pollen allergies

·         a 2017 study in Sweden found that common pollutants like pet dander and dust from cleaning can worsen asthma symptoms and increase anxiety about symptoms in children that causes them to lose focus on school

·         a 2019 study illustrated a link between missing school because of asthma and poor learning outcomes that get worse as you get older, especially if you live in dense, urban areas with high levels of pollution

Second, indoor air pollution can put stress on your child’s brain that limits their cognitive function and ability to focus. 

Here are some recent studies that link indoor air quality and learning outcomes: 

·         a 2018 study found that ultrafine particles (UFPs) from smoke and car exhaust can go straight into your central nervous system, causing brain damage throughout your life

·         a 2018 study using air quality data in China found that minor changes in particulate pollution levels can drastically impact verbal and math scores in children over 10, with verbal tests affected significantly more than math tests

·         a 2018 review suggests that air pollution causes children to be born with lower IQs, and certain pollutants cause specific cognitive impairments: for example, PM2.5 lowers verbal learning, while nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) lowers short-term memory

·         a 2019 study found that short-term exposure to PM2.5 from common indoor sources like candles can significantly reduce cognitive performance on tests involving memory, attention, and language

Indoor air pollution, especially PM2.5, can also cause immune system responses that make your child more susceptible to bacterial and viral infections, including COVID-19.

The takeaway

Millions of children and teachers going back into classrooms following an unprecedented global pandemic may not know exactly what to expect.

Take precautions to help keep your child safe, healthy, and focused on their learning in the classroom.

Work with your child’s teachers and other parents to decide how best to help protect your child and ensure their ongoing success.