Epidemiologist: Poor Air Circulation Can Accelerate Virus Transmission

JAKARTA - Epidemiologist at Griffith University, Australia, Dr. Dicky Budiman MScPH, Ph.D. (Can) stated that office buildings and closed public facilities must pay attention to ventilation because poor air circulation can accelerate the transmission of COVID-19.

"Mechanisms of transmission through the air are called 'airborne aerosols' and 'droplets'. Both are related to the size of airborne particles", he said, quoted by Antara, Thursday, August 5.

He said cases of indoor transmission had been in the spotlight, such as in China and South Korea, which later became the subject of research by scientists regarding the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Cases of transmission in the two countries, he said, occurred quickly while indoors due to poor air circulation. The air system that is rotated in the room does not involve outside air, in the sense that circulation only occurs in that room.

"In South Korea, popular places to eat become clusters. This means that the circulation is inhaled by the diners in the restaurant. What we must pay attention to is airborne transmission because of high interaction activity", he said.

In contrast to outdoor activities, he said, the potential for transmission is smaller but it can still be infected if you don't wear a mask. He emphasized that the potential for exposure in a closed room is 20 times higher than outdoors.

According to him, the key to avoiding transmission is by wearing a mask strictly and not being in a crowd, especially paying attention to air circulation if you are in a closed room.

"In every crowded event, there is something called a 'super spreader' that carries a lot of viruses. Especially when it comes to the Delta variant, which has 100 times the number of viruses compared to the previous one", he said.

He also advised the public to use two-layer masks; medical and cloth, and never open them when in an enclosed public space. Then, most importantly reduce mobility and not crowd.

"When we go out of the house, outside the house there is a storm, the potential for exposure is very large. Even if we use an umbrella, it will still be splashed with water. Therefore, we cannot escape 3T ((testing, tracing, treatment)), supporting the process 5M, and vaccinations", said Dicky Budiman.

Meanwhile, building management practitioner Dedy El Rashid encourages building managers to start paying attention to the air ventilation system as extra protection to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"We recommend increasing the intake of clean air which is twice the air change, and replacing a better filter that has higher efficiency", he said.

Building managers can also add facilities by installing standard ultraviolet C (UVC) rays to kill bacteria and viruses, although further research must be conducted on the effectiveness of inactivating SARS-CoV-2, said Dedy El Rashid.