Germany to make ventilation and opening windows a part of the strategy of dealing with coronavirus

[YellowWave]

Look at this:

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/30/germans-embrace-fresh-air-to-ward-off-coronavirus

Germany is making ventilation a key component to fighting the coronavirus spread. Makes sense. At home the windows are usually open. I open windows at work for ventilation, especially now and for safety reasons for the virus in case anyone is infectious and we don't know it yet.

I am a nanny and the family I work for is absolutely allergic to having some windows open. I hate it. I go about opening windows to ventilating the place to try and keep us all safe. But they go around closing them again.

Hurrah that ventilation is finally going into policy. Hope we follow.

Doesn't really work for a lot of work places though. Modern office blocks rarely have windows that open. What about factories etc? Even big shops/supermarkets usually only have the entrance doors (which often open into a shopping centre).

We have bathroom and kitchen windows open a bit year round, I don't want to be in my living room in winter with the windows open though.

My office of 1500 people in the City has no openable windows.

A lot of UK schools are already doing this, aren't they?

Most big building (including supermarkets) have ventilation systems, esp when the windows dont open. The thing is making sure they are the type that bring in fresh air rather than recirculating existing air.

As the article says it is a national obsession! I've lived in Germany for 20odd years and It didn't take long for me to pick up the habit (I open all the windows twice a day for a few minutes).
The experts here have been recommending it since the start of the pandemic and all the schools I know of have windows tilted throughout lessons and opened wide during breaks etc.

Such importance is placed on good ventilation here that all new office blocks etc have windows you can open. Popular at the moment are long thin windows you can tilt or twist but Cannot be fully opened or big enough for a person to get out of.

Cases are rising here again in many areas, but hopefully little things like this will help make a difference.

@AriettyHomily but your office surely has some form of ventilation system?

This is good and needs to be formalised like this because otherwise you get people who won't put on a jumper/vest/bodywarmer/thermals closing the windows.
I am sure policymakers know that not every office/building can have opening windows and this policy is just to formalise what places like schools are already doing and protect the policy from naysayers.
For those unconvinced by the benefit of fresh air on germ reduction and illness transmission, look up Florence Nightingale wards and the modern research that backs this up.

Seeline - I would presume some office jobs are relatively OK and safe with a work from home thing.

I hope there is more formal guidance about air con systems too. Apparently unless there are the proper kind of filters (and maintenance), these systems just circulate germs around.

This was part of the guidance given to schools in April.

I open all the windows twice a day for a few minutes Scandinavia does this too I gather. Airing the house in the mornings etc.

In the UK we seem to have forgotten that there are warm winter clothes available, such as wool, heatech long-sleeved t-shirts, etc. People seem to think they should be able to wear t-shirts indoors in all seasons. Even in the depths of winter we have bedroom windows opened a tiny chink. Every morning in winter I open all the windows I can for a few minutes to get a good airflow through the house.

Sounds sensible.

I always have windows open especially in the bedroom every night
I work in a high school and have always found our office too hot and stuffy. Since COVID our risk assessment is to have doors and windows open, it can be a bit chilly sometimes but I don't mind it however some staff are really struggling with the cold. But we have no choice as we need to keep everyone safe.

Brilliant idea! When I lived in Germany not only did I have my own office but I could open the window in it. It was also suggested in my tenancy agreement how often to air my apartment. It had to not be too much though as that could cause damp issues.

I had to air the apartment at least ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes in the evening. In the UK I have always had the windows open at night "to let the germs out" as my grandma used to say.

DD's school have the windows open all day. I think this is a good thing. They do all complain they are cold though.

We don't have any windows at work. AC is currently switched off according to guidance

It was also suggested in my tenancy agreement Yes, in Germany there are rules about these things.
In France they also like to hang their bedding (duvet and all) out of their windows to air it.

It is already in schools, offices, shops etc official guidance.

It's also been written into my daughter's school's 41 page Covid protocol document.
This is Italy where everyone usually thinks a "hit of air" will kill you or leave you permanently infirm so it'll be interesting to watch it pan out over the next few months, but windows in classrooms are to stay open and between one lesson and another opened to their full capacity for 10 minutes.

@BeNiceLikeIRL

It was also suggested in my tenancy agreement Yes, in Germany there are rules about these things. In France they also like to hang their bedding (duvet and all) out of their windows to air it.

Thursdays here, all my neighbours stick their bedding on the balcony. Unfortunately it's rarely cold enough to kill the bugs but often warm enough for a perfect breeding soup so I don't bother. I bet they think I'm a slattern.

There's nothing to protect me in my job. I keep opening windows and the parents are at home, working from home and one or the other of them keeps coming around closing them. I'm so sick of it. I'm opening some windows to ventilate the place and to try and keep us all safe in case I have the virus and I don't know about it yet and in case they have the virus and are infectious before symptoms appear.

The parents were out abroad last week with a child for hospital treatment on the contintent and they are in a quarantine or self isolation period. By right they probably shouldn't have me here and by right I probably shouldnt be here working. They dressed up the situation as them quarantining and self isolation in their rooms. Of course that's not happening.

I have a good mind to give them an absolute fright and go out to a party at the weekend and take up smoking just to develop a cough. See if they like a potential exposure.