Hi, and welcome to COVID Quickly, a scientific American podcast series.

This is your FastTrack update on the COVID pandemic.

We bring you up to speed on the science behind the most urgent questions about the virus

and the disease.

We demystify the research and help you understand what it really means.

I'm Tony Lewis.

I'm Josh Fishman.

And we're a scientific American senior health editors.

Today, we're going to talk about reducing infections by improving indoor air quality

and how a lot of people approve of masks on planes and other precautions,

despite what you see on the news.

You and I talk a lot about how COVID spreads through the air and the importance of masks.

But when it comes to stopping airborne infections, there's a longer-term solution

that doesn't require a filter across your face, isn't there?

Absolutely. It's time we started improving the quality of the air inside our buildings.

We spend 90% of our time indoors, but we devote very little effort to making that air healthy

for human beings. As Lindsey Marr and aerosol expert at Virginia Tech put it,

we don't rely on people to filter their water individually.

We provide clean, safe drinking water.

Good point. Why don't we care as much about indoor air?

It's not like we just realize that breathing is important for health.

It's more of a recent building design issue.

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