The Science of ART
CO2 Monitoring
At-Risk-Together uses Aranet4 monitors supplied by Prescientx in every room of our preschool. These help our staff monitor air quality in real time and make decisions about mitigations. There is a very large project in the UK using CO2 monitors to improve air quality to reduce infection risk and improve learning and they have some great materials explaining the principles.
Monitoring Community Risk
While COVID isn't our only concern, it is a primary focus at this time. With the reduction in testing and overall local public health surveillance and reporting, we have to turn to other venues to get a sense of community risk. The team at COVID-19 Resources Canada (funded by the Public health Agency of Canada) have been developing a Hazard Index Score, based on a number of input metrics. For now, this is the most robust picture of risk available, with the challenge that it is only available at a provincial level.
We also monitor the Wastewater Report, CRISP Report, and PHAC respiratory virus surveillance.
Risk Mitigation
Airborne Transmission
The Plan to Stop Every Respiratory Virus at Once by Sarah Zhang. The Atlantic, Sep 7.2021
Airborne Transmission of Respiratory Viruses by Wang et al. Science, Aug 27.2021
Explainer Comics: the Quest of the Virosols by Wang & Sheun. Aerosol Science Research Center
The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill by Megan Molteni. Wired, May 13.2021
Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by Greenhalgh et al. the Lancet, Apr 15.2021
Masks
SARS-CoV-2 Transmission to Masked and Unmasked Close Contacts of University Students with COVID-19 by Rebmann et al. CDC MMWR, Sep 10.2021
The Impact of Community Masking on COVID-19: A Cluster-Randomized Trial in Bangladesh by Abaluck et al. Science, Aug 31, 2021 PREPRINT
Long thread on masks by Trisha Greenhalgh. Twitter, Jul 11.2021
Ventilation & Filtration
Which Air Cleaner Should I Buy? by Marwa Zaatari, Twitter, Aug 14.2021
Efficacy of Portable Air Cleaners and Masking for Reducing Indoor Exposure to Simulated Exhaled SARS-CoV-2 Aerosols by Lindsley et al, CDC MMWR, Jul 9.2021
Antigen Testing for COVID
The Usefulness of Antigen Testing in Predicting Contagiousness in COVID-19 by Lopera et al, Virology, March 29.2022
COVID-19 testing: One size does not fit all by Mina & Andersen, Science, Dec 21.2020
Rethinking Covid-19 Test Sensitivity — A Strategy for Containment by Mina et al, New England Journal of Medicine, Nov 26.2020
At-Risk-Together focuses on a layered approach to mitigate risk. Listed below are some of the resources available to help understand why we focus on airborne transmission (in addition to surface and droplet) risk and mitigate with testing, masks, and ventilation/filtration.