In terms of assisting to minimise virus spread within a room:
Published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the study traced airflow and the movement of aerosolised particles around a COVID-19 ward at Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The study found 99 per cent of aerosols could be cleared within 5½ minutes using just two small domestic air cleaners in a single patient room of a hospital ward.
As air travelling out of the patient’s room carried far fewer aerosols, the risk of infection for staff in surrounding clinical areas would be reduced.
The study was prompted by the high number of health staff who became infected at the hospital during Melbourne’s second wave in mid-2020.
Using two small appliances in a single patient room of a hospital, researchers found 99 per cent of aerosols could be cleared within five-and-a-half minutes.
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