PARENTS CALL FOR HEPA AIR FILTERS TO PROTECT AGAINST COVID19 IN CLASSROOMS.

By Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: As the highly transmissible Omicron variant fuels record-high case counts, and schools across Canada delay in-person learning, calls are growing for another layer of protection to be added to classrooms — HEPA filters. 

Air purifiers with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters can reduce the concentration of some viruses in the air by capturing small particles, such as the water droplets that can carry the coronavirus.

In classrooms where children are spending a lot of time,they remove their masks to eat lunch and chat with their friends and spend a long time throughout the day,, this HEPA filters made sense.

Filters can be used as an additional tool but should not replace other public health measures.

Despite that, some provincial governments are moving forward.

Ontario has sent thousands to certain schools and will be buying more before students return after the winter break, B.C. has promised them too.

Edmonton Public School Board says, that it is looking into the possibility of installing HEPA filters.