The federal government is supporting the federal states with 200 million euros in the procurement of mobile air purifiers for schools and daycare centers.
As the Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Monday, facilities with children under the age of twelve for whom there is currently no vaccine against the coronavirus should benefit.
The best possible protection against infection should be achieved in childcare and teaching.
"It is our aim to maintain face-to-face teaching this autumn and winter," said Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU).
Brandenburg's education minister and chairwoman of the conference of ministers of education, Britta Ernst (SPD), emphasized: “It is good that the federal government is providing financial support.” Mobile air purifiers could help schools and daycare centers to use rooms that cannot be ventilated well.
The 200 million euros are to be divided between the countries according to the Königstein key, the countries also have to contribute a part.
Funding program recently expanded
The federal government's original air filter program of around 500 million euros, which was launched in 2020, has already funded the installation of permanently installed systems in public buildings, theaters and museums. Since mid-June 2021, this has also applied to daycare centers and schools, among other things. However, the funding is limited to rooms and facilities for children up to 12 years of age, as no vaccine against Corona has yet been approved for them. The Education and Science Union (GEW) calls for air filters to be installed in all classrooms, regardless of the age of the students.
In view of the corona risk in schools, the issue of air filters has long been a source of controversy.
Trade unions, parents and teachers repeatedly called for investments to be made in air filter systems for lessons as soon as possible so that there would be no closings again after the summer vacation.
The German Teachers' Association, among others, criticized the fact that political decisions had come too late.
While the benefits of permanently installed air purification systems, which are more complex to install, are obvious, the situation with mobile devices is not so clear.
Various studies come to different results.
Advantages of permanently installed systems
It is undisputed that permanently installed systems are ideally suited to removing virus-containing particles from the room air. Their installation is the "most sustainable measure to improve indoor air hygiene", but also involves a high level of technical and time expenditure, according to the Federal Environment Agency (UBA). In addition to compliance with the hygiene rules, regular ventilation through the windows is particularly efficient in the pandemic. Where the ventilation options are insufficient, mobile air purifiers - with "highly efficient fabric filters" for example - could also be used as a supplement.
Because the benefit of mobile air filters is at least controversial in the professional world.
As a result of a study, scientists at Goethe University Frankfurt, for example, emphasize that air purifiers of the Hepa filter class significantly reduce the risk of infection with the coronavirus and recommend them for classrooms.
Researchers at the University of Stuttgart, on the other hand, warn: Mobile devices are “no alternative to changing the outside air” and are only advisable for support where there are too small or too few windows.
Only circulating room air
In a guideline for school operation under corona conditions, medical societies, Robert Koch Institute, educational and child protection associations had neither clearly positioned themselves for nor against. Critics argue, among other things, that the devices are too loud for use in the classroom, that they do not make ecological sense in view of the power consumption and that they generate unpleasant drafts. In addition, they only circulate the room air and therefore cannot replace the necessary supply of fresh air.
Proponents point to the technical benefit of mobile filters in virus reduction and advocate the interaction of all measures to curb the risk of infection. "Properly positioned and operated, their use is effective in minimizing the likelihood of indirect infections during the duration of the pandemic," says the UBA.