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Comment by nostromo | Hacker News Reader

Installing a HEPA filter is better because it removes pollutants, like smoke, along with viruses and bacteria.

A side effect people should be aware of is that living in a sterile environment can harm your children's immune systems, if you have children.

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The air will be clean but my house is still a dirty mess from the kids.

absolutely, hepa air filtration is great for all those other reasons, especially in polluted areas like beijing or (to a lesser extent) LA, but it, like uv lights, is going to be marginal at best against covid. despite the media aggrandizement, aerosolization is not a risk factor in most of our lives outside of relatively unique environments like hospitals.

we keep looking for silver bullets to covid when the most effective solution is simply distancing. even masks are of limited utility next to distancing (for a variety of reasons that highly limited and controlled studies don't negate).

also, we have a huge, free, high-powered wide-spectrum uv emitter bathing us in light and warmth every day (understanding that some of that specrum gets filtered out by our atmosphere). hang stuff outside if desired, but it's really not generally going to make a material difference for covid.

> we have a huge, free, high-powered wide-spectrum uv emitter bathing us in light and warmth every day.

Iunno where you live, but my jurisdiction actively discourages drinking beers/wine outside and really wants you to drink on a patio next to a wall or entirely indoors. I can’t understand why.

https://nowtoronto.com/food-and-drink/drinks/public-drinking...

Debatable controls for “order” win out over public health. We’re screwed.

yes, being outside is probably the most effective covid mitigation, both for disabling the virus particles more swiftly and diluting concentrations more rapidly.

you see this kind of thing a lot in (poorly constructed) regulations, where the intended effect is intentionally indirect, with lots of negative side effects that are simply unaccounted for (charitably speaking). it seems like that rule is primarily intended to prevent disorderly drunkenness and littering, but instead of addressing that directly, they made a rule saying don't drink outside anywhere, without regard to potentially negative consequences.

just brainstorming, targeting disorderly drunkenness with a night in jail would likely curtail that behavior quickly, if it was truly a problem in the first place. and just publicly shaming litterers by posting videos online would probably help curtail littering, along with more, and more visible, public trash cans.

None of the sun's UVC reaches the earth, and UVC kills coronaviruses best. UVB does reach the earth but its effect on coronavirus is not very impressive. UVA is useless.

it's not a robust virus and many things outside cause its timely destruction, including dessication.

I suspect no domestic system is good enough to be sterile enough to cause concern (at least not by itself)

If it was a semiconductor clear room I'd say that worry would be merited, but not a domestic HEPA filter, especially if you open the windows or walk around the garden

Unless you autoclave your house (and yourself before you enter it), your environment will not be anywhere near sterile.

This must be the third time these days when I see someone claim that cleanliness is harmful... where do you get this idea from?

HEPA filters are way cheaper than far UV too.

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