White House emphasises air quality improvements in latest effort to thwart coronavirus

“The most common way COVID-19 is transmitted from one person to another is through tiny airborne particles of the virus hanging in indoor air for minutes or hours after an infected person has been there,” Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in a blog post last week. “While there are various strategies for avoiding breathing that air — from remote work to masking — we can and should talk more about how to make indoor environments safer by filtering or cleaning air.”

The Biden administration’s turn toward improving ventilation comes as experts focus on new ways of managing a pandemic that continues to challenge global leaders more than two years after the virus first emerged. Its recommendations range from simple tactics, such as propping open doors and windows, to more complex investments to upgrade ventilation systems by installing better filters and portable cleaners, with officials urging building operators to tap funds previously made available through coronavirus stimulus packages.