I’m moving out soon and I’m thinking of moving into this beautiful pre-war building. I’m worried though about covid spreading and I’m wondering what precautions people living in apartments currently are taking.
Thing is I can find an apartment with a private entrance and in-unit wash/dryer, which would probably be better for covid, but this building is just nicer - better location, maintained better, it seems like the landlord is more present and responsive. Idk it’s a better deal, I’m just worried about covid.
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My apartment has its own HVAC unit and all appliances including laundry are in unit. I also have a breezeway rather than a hallway which makes my apartment effectively isolated from any other interior spaces. But I still run a HEPA filter all day, and frequently keep the windows open for fresh air. When Ive lived in more traditional apartments the fresh air from the windows + HEPA filter + masks when in common spaces were my main precautions. Having one of those under door seals that sticks to the bottom of the front door is a good move too
We were in an old soviet style apartment building in the beginning of covid and never got it from there. Up until we did get Omicron but that came from work exposure, not the housing.
We wore masks in the hallway always and when opening the door, also made sure not to walk in the stairs with other people in there, listened for the traffic before leaving.
We did have a towel under the main door, kept our balcony door and windows open as much as possible (winter) and just were cautious.
There is no real ac in these buildings and we could always smell our neighbours cooking, smoking or weed smoking in our bathroom especially so we covered that vent for some time too. Also already owned a HEPA filtered air purifier and that was always on.
Oh and never using the lift was one, I still don’t use those anywhere unless there is no other way. That is just too much shared air.
And after we’d open the door to for example receive a food delivery we would keep masks on for a while and ventilate the apartment fully by opening windows and the balcony door.
We did have our own washer.
I live in an apartment with an in-unit washer/dryer and a shared entrance. Whenever I’m traveling through the shared entrance, I’m wearing my N95 mask, Covixyl that I applied right before leaving, store-brand Neosporin right inside my nose, and Stoggles glasses. When I get back, or 3 hours since I last applied Covixyl, whichever comes first, I apply Covixyl again.
I have never gotten COVID
N95 every time I leave the apartment, block around/under the door with insulation foam, try to do errands first thing in the morning or late at night so there’s less chance of the aerosols being in the hallway and getting sucked into my apartment when I open the door. I also have an air purifier that I’ll set to max for a few hours when I get home but it’s just a normal one so I doubt it makes enough difference.
There’s only so much you can do tbh.
Unless you work from home and have all the things you need delivered and therefore never leave your apartment, why are you particularly worried about the laundry room? The world is rough right now for those trying to be COVID safe, but just be as safe as you can. I don’t think shared laundry is gonna make or break things. If you’re worried about getting it from your clothes or something, wash and dry on high heat.
yeah laundry isn’t too bad, I’m able to wear my mask. Honestly I’m more worried about covid coming in from the hallway than the shared laundry, just thought I’d mention it. The private entrance is what’s more tempting to me and why I’m sort of hesitating on this.
covid coming in from the hallway
it depends on the building im sure but i feel like a door with a seal good enough to keep your heating/cooling in is also pretty effective at keeping hall-air out. this is right out if your landlord is a cheap bastard that won’t replace a fucking draft seal ofc
Keep an air purifier by the door?
@rootsbreadandmakka@hexbear.net, actually let me expand on that. Here’s what I would do. Levoit has an air purifier that runs about $100 with Alexa capability built in. I’d put that on a little table next to the door. Then I’d get an Alexa capable door sensor and have it trigger the air purifier to turn on for an hour everytime the door opened. Your filter probably wouldn’t need replacing for years.
Hmm, that’s a lot more tricky, sorry comrade. I agree with the other person who replied, best solution in that case is probably an air purifier by the door. Either than or open all the windows whenever you enter, but that’s not really feasible unless you live in a very temperate climate
Edit: I just realized, if there’s a window near the door, you could also try turning your apartment into a positive pressure room via a window AC so that air only flows out when the door is opened. But I have no idea if that would actually work in practice. Just an idea.
Towel under the door? There’s generally a bit of entry space between the door and the rest of the apartment so mask up before you get to that point on the way out? You can really have an entirely safe apartment cause if it was covid proof it’d be airtight and you’d die from that. Generally though I don’t think there’s much chance of someone going through the hallway with covid and expelling enough air in front of your door for it to really matter, people don’t linger in the halls, they’re leaving their house to go outside so it’s not gonna be a major concentration of disease in the air and apartment hallways spend most of their time empty and generally have some ventilation
The biggest question is what’s the HVAC situation like? Best case scenario would be a heat/AC source that’s not tied in with the rest of the units in the building. A basement suite sharing an HVAC system with the upstairs unit could be less safe than an apartment building with a boiler system and decent air circulation in the hallways.
yeah I have definitely made sure the hvac is safe. It’s a window-unit AC and heat is hot water. I guess one question is whether the vents are connected though, which I’ll ask tomorrow.
If it’s just a shared air circulation system and not tied into the heat or AC you could block those vents after moving in also. Would want to be careful you’re still getting some fresh air in with a cracked window or something (extra important if it happened to have a gas stove obviously) but I would be more comfortable in that kind of apartment than all the basement suites I’ve lived in where the HVAC was shared throughout the house.
Luckily it’s cold as all fuck where I live and most big buildings (including mine) have steam or water radiators, and either no AC or just window units, so all the apartments are insulated from one another. Unluckily, its still cold as fuck.
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@s3p5r@lemm.ee I think your intentions were good, and you were mostly right. But just to be clear, the main transmission route for COVID is aerosols, like the virus lingers in the air, attached to water molecules (not droplets), and stays in the air like smoke.
Please forgive me for the comment deletion, but when it comes to health, any unintended misinformation can injure people.
From the link you gave me, emphasis mine:
First, larger respiratory droplets that rapidly settle onto surfaces, typically within 1–2 meters of the source, are amenable to hand hygiene, social distancing, and face masks. Second, albeit with more limited direct evidence, is aerosolization and spread of smaller respiratory droplets, or droplet nuclei, primarily <0.5 micrometers in final size, capable of staying suspended in air for hours and requiring filtering or ventilation for interdiction (2–4).
This is the same thing as what I said. Complete with caveat that you need to mask, wash your hands and not touch stuff. I get being cautious but… you’ve removed a comment which said the same thing as your correction, including choice of word.
Annex C: Respiratory droplets from Atkinson J, Chartier Y, Pessoa-Silva CL, et al., editors. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2009.
Additionally, the definition of an aerosol is a suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in air or another gas.
I’m fine with leaving the comments gone, but in the interests of good intentions and being mostly right, I think it’s worth reconsidering the aerosol/droplet reasoning for future mod actions.
“COVID is spread via water droplets and touch… and additional measures are pretty worthless” and COVID “don’t waft around on it’s own” is factually wrong and and mildly dangerous if left unchallenged. I don’t want to be a dick, but I have a responsibility to comrades here trying to keep themselves safe.
Literally any mod or admin can reverse my decision. But honestly I’d just move on, it’s not something worth getting upset over.
I’m upset that you’re ignoring the science, even the science you provided. The comments are whatever, which is why I suggested reconsidering the definitions of the terms for future actions instead of reinstating the comments.
Water droplets, or, if you prefer, respiratory droplets, or even aerosols, is how COVID travels through the air and settles on objects. That’s what the link you gave me explicitly says, and it is what I said. It does not waft around without that medium, to suggest it does is factually incorrect and not backed by any science.
Guy, you stated that we don’t need to have ventilators in closed rooms because COVID is a spread through droplet form, not “wafting” around like an aerosol. I’m being really nice, but this is started to get to debate bro behaviour. I’m middle aged, and I have better things to do than listen to you pretend that you didn’t say something that’s factually incorrect.
Guy
Not cool, please don’t.
you stated that we don’t need to have ventilators in closed rooms
When you’re alone, in your own apartment, with a closed door, yeah. That’s why lockdowns were effective at preventing transmission. I also said ventilation was necessary when in rooms with other people, especially when you can’t distance.
I have better things to do than listen to you pretend that you didn’t say something that’s factually incorrect.
I corrected myself to be more specific when I realised I hadn’t been clear enough, and I backed up the specifics with science. I’m sorry that you feel that isn’t sufficient. Feel free to do the things, I’m out.
Disengage.
Covid is spread via water droplets and touch, so additional measures are pretty worthless beyond keeping your door shut.
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it’s spread through the air as well
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haven’t heard about evidence of fomite transmission, are you sure?
Still debated, probably not a significant vector, but definitely possible: Lin, N., Zhang, B., Shi, R. et al. Decay pattern of SARS-CoV-2 RNA surface contamination in real residences. Sci Rep 14, 6190 (2024).
Key quote from conclusion:
The environmental contamination of object surfaces by SARS-CoV-2 RNA in residences of COVID-19 patients is low, but cross-contamination caused by water taps and washing basins may have hidden transmission risks. Generally, fomite transmission played a limited role in COVID-19 spread. Even the residence was contaminated by SARS-CoV-2, it was reduced by 90% three days after the patient left.
Edited to add: I mention it mostly because where I live is a high-traffic part of the building with people constantly using the elevators and opening doors. That’s why I’m still careful about it. If I lived in a lower density place I probably wouldn’t go as hard on the “no touchy” thing.
