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The US's workplace safety regulator just released guidance on how to ventilate offices to decrease the airborne spread of COVID-19

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The US regulator for workplace safety just recommended offices open windows to decrease the spread of COVID-19. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency that inspects workplace safety, released guidance on November 5 instructing offices to "consider steps to optimize building ventilation." OSHA said heating, ventilation, and air conditioning professionals can help offices ensure the building ventilates air efficiently. 

The new coronavirus continues to spread across the US, as the country recorded the highest single-day count of new daily COVID-19 cases with 103,000.

OSHA instructs workplaces to ensure all HVAC systems are functional and filters with a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value rating of 13. OSHA also recommends offices introduce fresh air by increasing the HVAC's outdoor air intake or open windows where possible, and to keep exhaust fans running at maximum capacity in restrooms.

Scientists agree that COVID-19 primarily spreads when an infected person releases droplets in the air when talking, coughing, or sneezing. These droplets typically travel up to 6 feet, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently said smaller COVID-19 particles can travel longer distances in enclosed spaces that had "inadequate ventilation. ...

  

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