On 11th February 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) announced “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2)” as the name of the virus that has caused the new disease COVID-19. A month later, the World Health Organisation made an assessment and announced the disease to be a pandemic. COVID-19 has led to severe global socio-economic disruption impacting millions around the globe. India, with the rest of the world is facing the adverse effects of COVID-19. Concerns have been raised about the likelihood of the spread of the disease through operation of Air-conditioning and Ventilation Systems. Infectious diseases can spread by several different routes including transmission through air. The questions being asked are whether their spread can be accelerated or controlled by heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) systems, depending on how the system is designed and operated.
To put a comprehensive guideline together, a COVID-19 Task Force was set up by ISHRAE’s Technical Committee. This Guideline has been prepared after a detailed study and analysis of information and literature available till
date. ISHRAE recommends that all facilities operated with air conditioning and ventilation, on the Indian Sub Continent, follow this guideline. Read here
ISHRAE Covid19 Guidelines |