As society plows forward seeking normalcy, almost all schools are back in-person. Yet the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 means that schools’ ability to stay open depends upon their ability to stop outbreaks.
Amid myriad proven COVID-19 prevention measures–masks, vaccines, contact tracing–one of the most powerful tools to prevent transmission is a good ventilation system that frequently recirculates fresh air. Especially now that individual mask and vaccine mandates are all but gone, and individual vigilance is, by and large, waning.
But even before the pandemic, many schools were battling crumbling infrastructure, with a June 2020 report from the Government Accountability Office finding that over 40% of schools–an estimated 36,000 nationally–had deficient ventilation systems.
