Over the course of the pandemic, scientists have shifted from encouraging people to disinfect contaminated surfaces to instead being laser-focused on cleaning the air, in order to slow the infection rate.
In January and February, scientists were studying the virus in pristine lab conditions and using larger amounts of the virus than would be found in a real-life scenario. Their initial studies advised us to wipe down groceries, doorknobs, boxes and wear gloves. This caused many people to overreact, including:
- Cleaning the air with copious amounts of disinfectant sprays
- Wiping groceries down with bleach and vinegar, creating chlorine gas
- Workers in public spaces spending hours every day wiping down surfaces in public areas
Keep washing your hands and cleaning high-touch surfaces, but the time, $, and effort spent cleaning every surface is better spent paying attention to the air. See also op-ed https://t.co/DYHYkHZjMH with @j_g_allen @ProfCharlesHaas https://t.co/RkoqpqX98X
— Linsey Marr (@linseymarr) December 28, 2020
The thought was “you would get the disease by touching those surfaces and then transferring the virus into your eyes, nose or mouth,” said Linsey Marr, an engineering professor at Virginia Tech who studies the airborne transmission of infectious disease in an interview for NPR. “All the evidence points toward breathing in the virus from the air as being the most important route of transmission.”
Airborne Transmission
Today, scientists have discovered the more prominent method of transmission is airborne. Wearing a mask, washing your hands, limiting the time you spend indoors with others and cleaning the air–are all the best ways to fight transmission.
Clean Your Air with Whole-Home Purification
A whole-home purifier will clean the air in your home using bi-polar ionization. Negative and positive ions are released into your home’s air through your HVAC system. From there, they seek out and attach themselves to pollutants, including viruses, making it easier to filter them out. By attaching to the pollutant, it makes the overall particle bigger by making a cluster. The cluster then is captured by your home’s air filter as the air circulates through the HVAC system.
This purification process also cleans surfaces. Take the money spent on sanitizing wipes, and instead put it toward a Dust Free Air Purifier.
