Consultant welcomes funding

A SENIOR consultant at Carmarthen’s Glangwili Hospital, who has pressed for the installation of ventilation equipment in schools to combat Covid-19, has welcomed Welsh Government funding for pandemic-related work which includes improving ventilation.

At the start of January, the Welsh Government announced £50m in funding to help make schools and colleges Covid-secure.

Dr Rhys Thomas said: “Covid-19 is an airborne virus, so ensuring clean air is essential in establishments like schools and hospitals, which can become breeding grounds for the virus.

“Good ventilation is key in breaking the chain of viral transmission.

“The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advocates the use of High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, which are more than 99.9% efficient at capturing humangenerated viral particles associated with Covid.

“As funding is now being made available, I sincerely hope that local education authorities will move as a matter of urgency to install appropriate ventilation and airpurifying equipment.”

Dr Thomas has been working with older pupils at Ysgol Teilo Sant in Llandeilo and Ysgol Ffwrnes, Llanelli, on building simple fan and filter units which circulate the air in classrooms.

He says that early data shows a remarkable drop in Covid cases.

A Notice of Motion was passed by Carmarthenshire Council last September calling on the Welsh Government to take action.

Carmarthen county councillor Alun Lenny, who strongly supported the motion, said: “I’m very glad and relieved that the government is responding to what medical experts and teaching unions have been advocating for some time.”