Oireachtas Health Committee - COVID-19 prevention is possible by managing people and managing indoor air

Buildings are key to suppressing the pandemic. Prevention is about managing people and managing air. Vaccines alone cannot end this; they need the support of a parallel prevention plan. Looking at buildings in Ireland: The problem is infected air. We now understand that risk of transmission is predominantly indoors and very specific to certain buildings and indoor air conditions. These conditions are preventable, and this knowledge is key to stopping infections, and to opening buildings at low risk. Most transmission is not from hands touching surfaces, it is from inhaling infected air. Masks are the only protection at close-range. Outdoors the virus is diluted and blown away. However, in buildings and vehicles it can build up, fill a space, linger for hours, and infect many people. Viral particles in the air behave like smoke and must be cleared out.