Stop Corona Infection by Upward Airflow/Convection
Most Corona infections inside buildings occur from aerosol-virus-particles floating and enriching in the air. By modest upward or crossing airflow these aerosols are diluted and removed with little effort the details of which have to be proposed by a taskforce “Prevention & Planning” consisting of virus/infection-, aerosol-, aerodynamics-, HVAC-experts and civil engineers/architects. With timely introduction of compulsory upward airflow (summer 2020) millions of infections could have been prevented!
It is well accepted that people outside of buildings, in fresh air, have low risk of Covid-19-infection due to some air breeze and due to prompt three-dimensional dilution of the aerosol concentration. Each breathing of an infected person is immediately dispersed so that the chance of reaching the critical concentration for infecting even neighbor persons is very small.
In this project the aerodynamic principle is applied to people assemblies inside buildings by application of upward airflow: Aerosol-virus particles are moved upwards, by specific ventilation, and then moved out of the room. Thus, the infection of neighbor students or people can be excluded if the other precautions like hand disinfection, distance of ~70cm and wearing masks are followed to prevent infections from droplets. There are several ways of installing upward airflow: by air inlet near the floor, at the bottom of the room and by extracting air under the ceiling with tubes and holes, by arranging a thin light-weight ceiling with holes, by a deck ventilator, or by small battery ventilators on or inside the tables. Air is extracted by a small ventilator outside the room and diluted, or it can be in-situ disinfected by HEPA filter, by UV-C radiation, or by heating. The airflow action can simply be checked by slight motion of a candle or of a small wind vane on the table. The action of upward airflow has been widely confirmed, demonstrated and published.
Corona crisis will continue for years, in analogy to influenza, even with (temporary)immunity of healed persons and with repeated vaccination required by virus mutation.
The installation costs of airflow are small compared to the enormous social, education, cultural, economic losses of the Corona crisis. Unemployment and short-time working will be reduced, insolvencies and personal catastrophes can be prevented with end of shutdown and of personal restrictions, with a return to nearly normal life!
With general compulsory upward airflow, life can be normalized and schools, restaurants, fitness centers, concert- and sports-halls opened when personalized seats are organized which allow tracking in case of an infection. Anyhow, the vaccination certificate will allow freedom and travelling. Upward airflow should also be installed in Intensive-Care-Stations and in old-people homes
A national Taskforce “Prevention & Planning”, in German: “Prävention und Planung”, politically independent, will consult the government for realization of general airflow conditions: Experts in the areas of virus-aerosol, virus-disinfection-technology, aerosol-aerodynamics, intensive-care, ventilation/HVAC, civil engineering, architecture, representatives of education, gastro/hotel, shopkeeper, artists, events, tourism, sports and fitness, business management/statistics. 17.3.2021 HJS