Rank: New forum user 
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Hello All. A couple of my collegues have rasied concern regarding that a possible cause of Covid Spead is through our Air conditoning system. I have looked into this and seen various articles that support and dismiss this. Can anyone please advise. Thank you.
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Rank: Super forum user
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From a recent HSE bulletin
Quote:The risk of air conditioning spreading coronavirus is extremely low.If you use a centralised ventilation system that removes and circulates air to different rooms, it is recommended that you turn off recirculation and use a fresh air supply. You do not need to adjust other types of air conditioning systems. If you’re unsure, speak to your heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) engineers or advisers. Good ventilation is encouraged to help reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus. For regular updates on coronavirus visit our website.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Rank: Super forum user
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Rank: Super forum user
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Originally Posted by: CptBeaky  From a recent HSE bulletin
Quote:The risk of air conditioning spreading coronavirus is extremely low.If you use a centralised ventilation system that removes and circulates air to different rooms, it is recommended that you turn off recirculation and use a fresh air supply. You do not need to adjust other types of air conditioning systems. If you’re unsure, speak to your heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) engineers or advisers. Good ventilation is encouraged to help reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus. For regular updates on coronavirus visit our website.
Sorry for my own sanity can you let me have the link directly to this comment please? I have tried searching for it on the HSE website but I can't find it...I would appreciate it so that I can add it to the bank of information supporting my risk assessments... :)
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Rank: Super forum user
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Rank: Forum user
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If the air coming in isnt subject to viral infection and the filters are correctly maintained (as they should be due to legionella etc) then theres almost no risk. Increasing the airflow in an office will disipate the virus quicker rather than a cloud hanging around the infected persons. Humidity also dries it out and reduces the risk.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Originally Posted by: CptBeaky
got it now thanks :)
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Rank: Super forum user
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This Forum doing its bit to uphold its charitable status. IOSH Council - please note!
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 1 user thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I've been through teh 'somebody said that air conditioning spreads coronavirus' rigmarole. I did some digging, and this is what I found, though I'm not a virologist and I haven't examiend teh original research.
From what I can determine, the original story that aircon could spread coronavirus arises from a report that someone found virus traces on an aircon vent extracting from an isolation room in a Singapore hospital. The research was done by Singapore National Centre for Infectious Diseases, and Professor Leo Yee Sin from the centre said that the purpose of the study was to look into environment contamination rather than how the virus spreads. "It is not so much to prove if it is an airborne condition or not; it is just merely telling you that the virus is scattered around in the isolation facilities." Also, the arrangement of the system in the room is not like ‘normal’ aircon. It had high air flows from ceiling level down to ground level, with the extract vents at ground level. It is designed to pull droplets out of circulation quickly, so the fact that it does so is not actually news. Another of the Singapore science bods said “So when you take a swab and find viruses around the vents, it is actually a combination of droplets falling by gravity into those areas, as well as a bit of airflow that comes through".
If you do web search, searching Singapore references is quite fruitful - it seems to have caused quite a flap there - the quotes above are from a press conference apparently trying to quell the press-fuelled panic about aircon.
My conclsuion was that we'd leave our aircon alone as it was. I'm relying on the HSE bulletin already cited to say aircon is not a problem.
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Rank: Super forum user
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My take is that if you have a system drawing in air from an external source, cooling or heating it then you shold be fine, if you have a recirc system that draws air from from inside the room, cools/heats it then vents it around the office you may have a problem. You only have to look at how fast a cold/flu transmits around an office environment with your current system. I have a client with a recirc system, and over the last couple of years I worked for them, when someone has the flu/cold it rushes around the office and within a month almost everyone has symptoms of some sort.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Glad I spotted this thread, the link to CIBSE really appreciated. Aircon where I work is managed by facilities, I was advised that it was all drawn in from an exteral source and filtered etc. I have just double checked and it seems that was the case before the rebuild 6 years ago. Some meeting rooms now have recirclation systems put in during the rebuild.
Now I have to do some serious reading and checking of records.
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Rank: Super forum user
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