Ex-teacher calls for classroom Covid air filters

An ex-teacher worried about the spread of coronavirus in school classrooms is raising money for air filters.

Oliver Patrick taught during the first year of the pandemic and has since become a Somerset county councillor.

He is raising money for low-cost filters for schools to help reduce the risk of catching Covid at school.

Mr Patrick launched the fundraiser after meeting the family of 10-year-old Emily who has been suffering from long Covid since September 2021.

“Children are still really exposed to the virus and I thought I can help,” he said.

Mr Patrick, who represents Coker on the county council, said schools had been “brilliant” throughout the pandemic but he felt that government guidance in education settings had not been always been sufficient.

“Schools did everything they were told to do but I felt that guidance and information from the government wasn’t good enough.

“People were scared,” he said.

A spokesman for the Department for Education (DfE) said to help improve ventilation, the government had provided state schools in England with 386,000 carbon dioxide monitors, and 8,026 air cleaning units.

Mr Patrick said these air filters were cheaper and he was aiming to raise £13,500, enough to put them in every school in his ward.

The DIY-style filters, known as a Corsi-Rosenthal box after its inventors, were simple to build and cost about £190, he said.

Mr Patrick has been building them himself to hand over to schools.

“It started in the USA and it is a bit of a quick fix.

“It’s not perfect but they’ve been tested thoroughly and are very effective, more than some off-the-shelf air filters. It helps reduce the risk.

“We’re going into the third winter, the fourth academic year of disruption, and some headteachers a bit concerned going into winter.

“I have got a team ready to help and some school children are thinking of building one themselves,” added Mr Patrick.

He has raised just over £3,000 with the National Education Union Somerset branch donating £1,740 to fund 10 filters.

The low-cost air filters are already in use in some schools including in Carmarthenshire in Wales.

The DfE said air cleaning units had been provided to all education settings, for all rooms where an eligible application was made.

It said each year, capital funding was allocated for school buildings to improve and maintain the school estate, including £1.8bn for 2022/23.

It said part of this condition funding could be used to invest in improving ventilation and indoor air quality in schools.

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