Hello friend,
Over the last few months, state and school leaders have worked 24/7 to safely reopen our schools. That work would not have been possible without the input of public health experts, from pediatricians to epidemiologists and more. Throughout this crisis, we’ve relied on the data, and we’ve put our trust in scientists to guide our decisions.
I know there have been a lot of questions about what schools can do to provide sufficient air circulation in classrooms. Today, I want you to hear directly from Dr. Erin Bromage, one of the scientists we consulted on school reopening, and Dr. Jim McDonald from the Rhode Island Department of Health about simple steps schools can take to improve airflow and keep students and staff safe from COVID-19.
Based on the expertise of Dr. Bromage and others that we consulted, as well as a recent report from Harvard’s School of Public Health, we have put together a useful webpage with data on the effectiveness of every different approach to address airflow, from opening windows, to box fans, to HEPA filters. These experts looked at data of what’s called “air changes per hour” – or how often air is circulated in and out of a certain room – to determine how best to address COVID-19 in indoor settings.
The science indicates that, given the size of a typical classroom, you want to see at least four air changes per hour. They found that opening a single window just six inches provides 5 air changes per hour or more, and adding a box fan to that window increases that number to over 12. In fact, this was one of the most effective approaches there is. We’ve also added a tool on the webpage in which you can input the size of the room and calculate the effectiveness of a given approach in each situation.
For those of you who are interested in what the data and science says about airflow, please visit health.ri.gov/airflow to learn more.
We’re all in this together,
-Gina Raimondo
Governor
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