Jump to content

Menu

Empty room in air conditioned building--mask or no mask?


kokotg
 Share

Recommended Posts

DH is a high school teacher; his district will be starting the year online, but he's required to teach online from his classroom. Putting aside how I think this is really dumb and increases risks unneccessarily, should he be wearing a mask when he's alone in his (air conditioned, no windows that open) classroom, or would that be overkill? I'm thinking mask in public areas (they're saying all meetings will still be online) but not alone in his classroom? FWIW, he's in his mid 40s and generally healthy, but is on an immunosuppressant for psoriasis. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Spy Car said:

Is there no teachers union to protect him (and others) from this insanity?

Bill

not in Georgia! He's lucky; other counties in our area (with very high community transmission right now) are still planning to start in person, with no mask requirement for teachers or students and no social distancing, in a week or two.

  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imo, given immunosuppressants, Wear Mask whenever possible.  

Is he only one who ever goes into that room?

 

if so he might be able to put a hepa filter over A/C vent thus “masking”

the incoming air rather than his own face

 

totally agree with you that rule is dumb and unnecessary increase of risk

can see it as good option for those who cannot work from

home

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, kokotg said:

not in Georgia! He's lucky; other counties in our area (with very high community transmission right now) are still planning to start in person, with no mask requirement for teachers or students and no social distancing, in a week or two.

Mind-boggling.

Sorry.

Bill

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If he can keep everyone out of his classroom and either filter the vents or bring in a good quality air purifier, I'd be ok with not masking just while he is in that one room.  I'd be masking every time he walks out the door though - don't get within 10 feet of anyone. Wait for restroom to be empty.  Suggest district buy air filters/purifiers for faculty restrooms if they are required to come in.  

Edited by FuzzyCatz
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, kokotg said:

DH is a high school teacher; his district will be starting the year online, but he's required to teach online from his classroom. Putting aside how I think this is really dumb and increases risks unneccessarily, should he be wearing a mask when he's alone in his (air conditioned, no windows that open) classroom, or would that be overkill? I'm thinking mask in public areas (they're saying all meetings will still be online) but not alone in his classroom? FWIW, he's in his mid 40s and generally healthy, but is on an immunosuppressant for psoriasis. 

My husband is also a high school teacher (in Texas). His district will start school online (for the first six weeks), and he plans to wear a mask any time he is in a campus building, even when alone in his classroom or office. His district has not announced yet whether they will have to teach from campus or home, but we are fully expecting it to be the former. He plans to teach from either his classroom or his office (he is also the tennis coach) wearing a mask. He will likely have to teach live online, and he said that he will primarily teach using a whiteboard app so that his masked face is not what the kids see. The masks my family got are very comfortable for all-day wear, and they have head straps rather than ear loops, which also helps quite a bit.

I don’t think it’s overkill at all. Our youngest son has T1 diabetes, and my husband is determined not to get this virus. In our minds, sitting in an air-conditioned building means you may be breathing in the virus from your co-workers in another room. He also plans to use a HEPA air purifier, and go outside between class periods. We hope that he will be able to come home for lunch most days, and all of his tennis coaching responsibilities will be outdoors (also masked).

He sees this as practice and habit-building for when school comes back in person. He wants this all to feel routine by the time he has to be in the room with the kids.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you want the details on the air purifier or the particular kind of mask he is using. Hang in there! I have been beside myself with worry all summer about how this is all going to go. The unknown aspects are incredibly stressful! 

Edited by caayenne
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, Pen said:

Is he only one who ever goes into that room?

 

if so he might be able to put a hepa filter over A/C vent thus “masking”

the incoming air rather than his own face

He SHOULD be the only person who goes in the room other than custodians after school to clean, although he said last year they were saying they didn't have enough classrooms and some people would have to share this year. I hope they'll figure out an alternative to that given the circumstances. Good idea about the filter--we'll look into that!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, caayenne said:

 

I hope this helps! Let me know if you want the details on the air purifier or the particular kind of mask he is using. Hang in there! I have been beside myself with worry all summer about how this is all going to go. The unknown aspects are incredibly stressful! 

Thank you! It's super helpful to hear from someone else who's thought through the same issues. And, yeah, I managed to be very head in sand about it from when schools closed in March until recently, but things are getting very real now. Would love the details about the air purifier and mask (I ordered him some happymasks that so many people here have recommended, but I'd like for him to have a few different options and see what he likes best since he'll be wearing them so much)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, caayenne said:

 

I hope this helps! Let me know if you want the details on the air purifier or the particular kind of mask he is using. Hang in there! I have been beside myself with worry all summer about how this is all going to go. The unknown aspects are incredibly stressful! 

I'm facing a different, but similar situation. I would love to know what kind of purifier and mask you decided to use. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Teaching via zoom with a mask seems like a good idea so that everyone gets used to teaching masked and learning from a masked teacher.

Teachers will learn to use some cues other than just facials expressions.  Also, for those stuck teaching online from campus some parts of lessons could be recorded at home unmasked.  (I'd be sure to say "this was recorded at home which is why I'm unmasked".  We need to make masking normal and no big deal)

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, happi duck said:

Teaching via zoom with a mask seems like a good idea so that everyone gets used to teaching masked and learning from a masked teacher.

Teachers will learn to use some cues other than just facials expressions.  Also, for those stuck teaching online from campus some parts of lessons could be recorded at home unmasked.  (I'd be sure to say "this was recorded at home which is why I'm unmasked".  We need to make masking normal and no big deal)

He's already planning to record lessons at home (he's been doing some of that for a couple of years now, and it really ramped up in the spring, of course) as much as possible. and, yeah--good point about normalizing masks for the students so it's no big deal when they get back to the classroom for everyone to be wearing them. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, kokotg said:

Thank you! It's super helpful to hear from someone else who's thought through the same issues. And, yeah, I managed to be very head in sand about it from when schools closed in March until recently, but things are getting very real now. Would love the details about the air purifier and mask (I ordered him some happymasks that so many people here have recommended, but I'd like for him to have a few different options and see what he likes best since he'll be wearing them so much)

 

14 minutes ago, sbgrace said:

I'm facing a different, but similar situation. I would love to know what kind of purifier and mask you decided to use. 

 

The air purifier we decided on is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01M6YMWNA/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&th=1

The reviews are great, and it says it filters down to 0.3 microns. The HEPA filter also has an antimicrobial layer that says it kills viruses, bacteria, and fungi, which is awesome, because there are lots of those recirculating through school air systems even on a non-pandemic year.

The masks we got are a bit expensive, but we’ve been very happy with them. They are called Sonomasks, and they are made by a cool startup company in Israel called Sonovia. They are woven from thread infused with zinc oxide, and they actually kill bacteria and viruses. You can wear the mask multiple times in a row without washing it, and they are rated for up to 100 washings. 

https://sonoviatech.com

I was skeptical at first, but I looked at the research they have done, and it looks pretty solid. They just sent something out last week in an email saying that the masks had been tested in an independent lab in Austria with SARS-Cov2 and that they neutralized 99.99%. 😊

We bought a ten pack to share with my parents and my sister and her husband, which brought the price down to a more reasonable cost per mask. They are quite comfortable, easy to breathe through, and they are not hot, which is huge for living in the humid South! My husband has worn his for several hours in a row a few times, and he feels that he will be able to wear it for a full day of teaching and coaching. All four of us in our household wear them whenever we have to go anywhere.

 

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, happi duck said:

Teaching via zoom with a mask seems like a good idea so that everyone gets used to teaching masked and learning from a masked teacher.

Teachers will learn to use some cues other than just facials expressions.  Also, for those stuck teaching online from campus some parts of lessons could be recorded at home unmasked.  (I'd be sure to say "this was recorded at home which is why I'm unmasked".  We need to make masking normal and no big deal)

 

I agree! I will definitely share your post with my husband. My oldest son said something similar at the breakfast table this morning. I was saying that their Dad was going to practice teaching in a mask to get used to it, and he said, “The kids should get used to seeing Dad in a mask too!”.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless he has a filter in his room at the vent so that HEPA filtered air is coming in to his room, he should wear a mask the entire time he is in the building.

If the mask is really uncomfortable, unsuitable for teaching, then he could shut the door to the hallway, run a HEPA filter for the time needed to clean the room’s air and sit by it (away from the vent bringing air into the room) and try that....but there is a small chance he will be exposed to unclean air.

There was a study about downdrafts coming down a hallway bringing air from a sick persons’s office down to a healthy person’s and infecting them. I read it late feb/early March...and that spurred Dh to start working from home. I tried digging for it this am but it’s not in my saved links. It’s food for thought on how to manage stuff (like why I would close my classroom door and run a HEPA).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We run Honeywell HEPA units, fwiw, from amazon and Target respectively. My dr wants me in a N95 because I am on immunosuppressants. I have to ration my use of them, so I wear cloth masks in outdoor locations where social distancing isn’t possible (per state reg) but I always use a N95 indoors. 
 

Fwiw, my family friends got covid two weeks ago—from outdoor contact. The husband’s brother took a covid test—negative—and so they met unmasked, outdoors for a few hours. Brother became symptomatic the next day and tested positive. Friends all became sick—kids under 10 had fewest symptoms but athletic parents in their mid-40s became quite ill but didn’t require hospitalization and teens were also symptomatic. So...he needs to mask up, imo, and avoid shared lunches at a table outside.

  • Sad 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...