Covid19 Part XVIII-25,473 in ROI(1,736 deaths) 5,760 in NI (551 deaths)(30/06)Read OP

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Just to point out air filtration in planes are above par and comparable to hospitals, if you have statistics proving infection caused in an aeroplane setting I would be interested in seeing these.

Not trying to be funny, but given that hospitals were one of the worst places you could possibly go in any country in terms of risk of picking up COVID-19, I’ve never understood the constant comparison between aircraft and hospitals.

Also hospitals rarely use complicated filtration systems, other than in very specific areas like operating theatres.

is_that_so wrote: »

Luke O'Neill has suggested that they have similar systems to hospitals and labs.

It remains to be seen just how effective their filtration systems are. There’s a degree of variation between models and makes of aircraft and also options that airlines install.

The regulators would want to be able to assure passengers that the airlines are actually using the best filters available & that they’re being maintained properly.

I read up on some of this recently and there are huge differences between different systems. Some aircraft have pretty simple flat filter elements, others have very sophisticated filtration systems. The new Airbus aircraft for example seemed to have extremely good filtration, but there are options that can be installed depending on the airlines’ choices of spec.

I would also a suspect on some of the smaller aircraft, like the ones used for commuter hops, the air conditioning is likely to be fairly simple, given the tight spaces they have to fit it into.

It’s impossible to just generalise.

What would concern me more is the air conditioning / air handling systems on trains, trams and busses. There are so many variations of those designs and I would suspect the standards are a lot more open, as they’re not really anything like as seriously regulated as aircraft.

Also a lot of offices and cafes and so on have ceiling mounted cartridge air conditioning units, which just draw air in from the room, cool and dehumidify it and return all of it to the room. They’ve no air handling at all really, any more than a fan heater would have.

A lot of air con systems in public transport for example are designed to minimise energy usage and waste of heat, not necessarily maximise air replacement. It may actually mean the likes of Irish Rail or the Luas operator may need to physically modify their air handling systems to ensure 100% air changes, which will also have potentially significant impacts on fuel / electricity use, carbon footprints and so on.

The same applies in offices. If you crank up your systems air changes, you heating and cooling bills go way, way up and also many buildings and trains etc can’t really function comfortably with those systems switched off.

A lot of these things have probably never really been given much thought or very detailed consideration, especially in a climate like this where air conditioning is very much an optional most of the time.

I’m not sure that just switching off a/c on trains and so on is much of an option either as you will end up with very poor levels of air change and almost none of them have openable windows anymore (many haven’t since the 1980s eg even the older orange MK3 intercity trains that are now gone out of service never has openable windows and had full air con)

cnocbui wrote: »

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8458527/Sunworshippers-face-burning-maximum-UV-strength-rays.html

What ever happened to take your rubbish home with you? Those beach scenes don't reflect well people over there. Really hope Irish people have more respect.