COVID-19 Safety at the P2Pod
Our perspective is that as organizers of and participants in the P2Pod, health and safety is of paramount importance. We have consulted with Public Health Physicians directly involved with the COVID-19 medical response, Engineers involved with ventilation, as well as a wealth of information available online from reputable public health departments and academic programs. As internationally recognized experts in pulmonary viruses, we certainly wish that the CDC had been able to publish more information regarding interior air quality, but we are all making do with what we got and what we have is quite good (although a little more difficult to find than we'd wished).
If you're reading this, you've probably already read through our P2Pod Health Plan and other documents (P2Pod Handbook (for Adults and Participants) (P2Pod Child and Youth Abuse Prevention Policy) (FAQ). You should.
We review monthly (or more frequently) the Washington State Department of Health Guidelines for our Pod situation and implement that guidance. Our Pod Guide screens participants (including students, volunteers, organizers--anyone who is entering the space for more than a minute or two) for symptoms. We conform to city and state orders, especially regarding gathering sizes.
We are an indoor operation, and as we all know--outdoors is better. We also know that COVID-19 presents the challenge of asymptomatic participant transmission through airborne (aerosol) transmission.
We've used two primary sources for risk reduction and risk assessment guidance.
As the exterior temperature permits, we attempt to ventilate with many air changes per hour (ACH) as possible while keeping the temperature of the Pod above ~65 degrees. Using CO2 and thermal estimates, the Pod receives 3-12+ ACH when the weather was fine. Now that the weather has turned colder (<50F) we've added HEPA filtration (Grade H13) to keep the Outdoor Air + Filtered Air >3 ACH.
Given the <12 occupant, 100% mask-wearing, quiet, low talking, and no aerosolizing activities in the 1500 sqft space, we've interpreted the guidance and our ventilation controls as being sufficiently risk reduced for operation. It can be a litle on the cool side, but we hope that small hardship builds character :-)
There are situations where we may have to suspend the P2Pod, but we hope none of those happen!
If you have additional questions--or even better, additional resources for making our operations better--please contact us! (projectphoenixboard@gmail.com)