Open your windows, Baguio residents told

People must regularly aerate or allow ventilation as one of the engineering controls against the virus

BAGUIO CITY — Residents have been urged to open their windows at home to lessen their chances of contracting the coronavirus.

“Most have confined spaces, closed windows with electric fans running,” said city epidemiologist Dr. Donnabel Tubera of the Baguio City Health Services Office. “To eliminate it as a risk factor, people must regularly aerate or allow ventilation as one of the engineering controls against the virus.”

Tubera said the lack of proper ventilation either in homes or in places or work had been a common observation in most of the city’s COVID case clusters.

At work, Tubera said administrative measures can be employed by lessening the number of employees reporting for work and adopting work-from-home and other schemes.

Tubera noted that some business establishments where cases occurred allowed full workforce operations and this should be avoided.

She said COVID-19 transmission depends on factors like the amount of viral load of an infected person, time element which is 15 minutes of close contact with the carrier, lack of distancing (safe distance is at least one meter), crowding, lack of ventilation and low immune system.

Aside from these engineering and administrative controls, proper wearing of masks and face shields, frequent hand washing, observance of cough etiquette are equally important. She stressed self-assessment is also a must where one must watch out for symptoms and do protective measures like wearing of PPE, distancing and self-quarantine to avoid transmission to family members or co-employees.

“Virus does not have brains but we have. We can avoid it. Know what to do,” she said.