Healthy Indoors Magazine - USA Edition

20 | July 2020 "Risk Reduction Strategies for Re- opening Schools" and "The Path to Zero and Schools: Achieving Pan- demic Resilient Teaching and Learn- ing Spaces." For risk reduction, pro- fessionals can help schools increase outdoor ventilation, better filter indoor air, introduce portable air cleaners, verify ventilation and filtration per- formance, maintain indoor relative humidity, cleaning and disinfecting, and other strategies. In the pandem- ic document, Harvard introduces col- or-coded risk levels for priority school re-openings and how to create infec- tion control guidelines to keep people safe. The links to these documents are at the end of this story. At press time, the International Well Building Institute's (WELL) held a webcast with Dr. Joseph Allen on "Keeping COVID-19 out of the Class- Should you review the guidelines from the CDC? The initial ones from May or the new guidance issued late July 23? Wasn't the White House going to write their own school guidelines? But wait— each state has its own plan, right? That's right. In many states, school districts are now creating in-person, online, and hybrid proposals to share with parents, teachers, and staff beginning in August. Yes, that's still just weeks before the start of the new school year. And what's the role of indoor environmental experts in the re-opening of schools? First, some of the foremost indoor air science experts and researchers now frequently appear in mainstream media and news shows. Second, it has increased the visibility of indoor professionals who can help schools and univer- sities make necessary changes to make spaces healthier and safer. At press time, Dr. Richard Corsi, IAQ expert and dean of Maseeh College of Engineering & Computer Science at Portland State University in Portland, Ore., finalized a checklist of 20 questions on healthy and safe school re-openings that parents, teachers, and staff could ask their school districts and elected officials. The list also includes recommended responses, again from a health and safety perspective, of how school officials should be answering. Corsi teamed with Dr. Joseph Allen, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and co-author of the recent book, Healthy Buildings, to immediately de- velop a website for these questions, answers, and the context behind both. You can check it out now at https://schools.forhealth.org/risk-reduction-strategies- for-reopening-schools/faqs/ Healthy Indoors has included the Twitter feed here for Corsi (@CorsiIAQ) to help readers review all of the information that Corsi posts on the current state of schools and universities. "Let's do this right," he told followers. "Demand it." Allen also is a principal on two guidance documents released last month— In CDC re-opening guidance for schools, normal routine cleaning with soap and water will decrease how much of the virus is on surfaces and objects. Disinfec- tion using EPA-approved products for COVID-19 can also help reduce risk. It's expected that teachers and staff will have to frequently clean surfaces in the classroom throughout the day.

• Cover