If you are looking at air treatment as an engineering control to suppress Covid 19 and/or other airborne pathogens, the Global Lighting Association has released the following guideline.

Guidelines for quantification of airborne pathogen inactivation by UVGI technologies
This document outlines a methodology for determining the microbial cleaning capabilities of UVGI products. It is particularly relevant in the battle against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

That happens when you make things up on the hoof Sheri

Given that workplace death rates have not changed a jott in the last twenty years, and serious workplace accidents have been steadily increasing year on year, as the Government's arm charged with changing that, guess they have to try every approach.

Jenene Crossan is unequivocal about the need for Covid Patients to rest and recover for an extended period before returning to any sort of work or exercise (including working from home), the studies cited in the Stuff article bear out her advice.

Would the MOH advice to "adopt a pragmatic approach" be proffered if there was a bigger pool of Critical Health Workers, most likely not (one would hope).

Having to face this dilemma is one of the dividends of years of under investment in health, buildings, people, training, treatment, not the fault of those having to make the call, and certainly not the fault of the CHWs being asked to return to work while still recovering.

Like your style :grin:

RATs have been designed to be as robust as possible, and they have been extremely well tested, and Medsafe have gone over all the data. If your people are following the instructions correctly, and reporting the results correctly, that is all the business is responsible for. There honestly is no need to burn through your precious and expensive tests to decide if it meets standard. They are hardly doing that in the Emergency Department, so you don't need to either.

Deciding if this person is a covid case, and needs to isolate or not, is not the job of the business. Best leave that to the health system, they have protocols to work to. Your person above is presumably in the medical system in order to have had three PCR tests already, so that is good, and they will presumably let you know if RAT testing is useful from here. — Jane

Excellent advice Jane :up:

OK, I'll bite, is that your worst, or best Aaron :grin:

It would be a lot easier if all the government departments were on the same page when putting guidance publications together . — TracyRichardson

[Putting on suitable facial contortions] Tracy, I'd have to push back on this, the absence on connectivity, between Government departments is part of our overall Covid defense of socialized distancing, but we are all working very hard on this and we anticipate going forward to be able to announce a suitable joining of the dots toward the end of the Omega wave

I'm certain that most people don't realize the sweeping powers afforded to the Government and Public Heath officials under the Public Health Act and various bits of Covid legislation Sheri. What happens going forward, will depend on the size of the Omicron Tsunami getting ready to hit us.

Suggest you email the good Dr Ashley and ask him (see other Antigen Thread for info on how)

This NZ Herald item makes for interesting (if head shaking in disbelief) reading, Covid 19 Omicron: Sir Ian Taylor - How to solve the rapid antigen tests crisis in three hours

At the moment, bringing unapproved RATs in, would likely see them sized by NZ Customs. Comments by the good Doctor Ashley, that he didn't "requisition" current inbound supplies, merely suggested that they should be diverted to the Government for "allocation" as it sees fit, is disingenuous.

Surely 'some' kind of testing would be much better than none at all....?? — Sheri Greenwell

Here's a link to the Aussie Government's advice and ranking of RATs, lot more pragmatic than what's flowing out of Wellington.

Given these masks need to be fit tested to get to the maximum level of protection, is that going to happen Sheri?

There's a Duke Uni study Matt:

Duke University study which was published in September 2020, says that correctly fitted N95 masks that cover the full face are the most effective at preventing particle transfer.

Contact the Director General Of Health Sheri, good luck with getting a straight answer from Dr Ashley.

If you know the name of a particular person at the Ministry you are trying to contact, you can use this email format:firstname.lastname(at)health.govt.nz

but the cost will put a lot off. — Stuart Keer-Keer

Out sourcing an employee who says "I'm not shaving" will prove costly too Stuart, as will trying to replace them.

So far, my research hasn't pulled up any studies where subjects with beards have been fit tested using any kind of "agent" to promote a better seal.

Depending on your location register with a good recruitment company, use seek and trade me and through out your net and see what comes back. — TracyRichardson

Good advice Tracy, if you aren't already on Linked In Riki, I'd suggest joining that community too.

A father said to his daughter “You have graduated with honors, here is a car I bought many years ago. It is a bit older now. But before I give it to you, take it to the used car lot downtown and tell them I want to sell it and see how much they offer you for it.

The daughter went to the used car lot, returned to her father and said, “They offered me $1,000 because they said it looks pretty rough.”

The father said, now “Take it to the car wreckers.” The daughter went to the car wrecker, returned to her father and said,”The car wrecker only offered $100 because it is an old car and probably worn out.”

The father then asked his daughter to go to a car club now and show them the car. The daughter took the car to the club, returned and told her father,” Some people in the club offered $100,000 for it because it’s a Nissan Skyline R34, an iconic car and sought after by many collectors”

Now the father said this to his daughter, “The right place values you the right way,” If you are not valued, do not be angry, it means you are in the wrong place. Those who know your value are those who appreciate you......Never stay in a place where no one sees your value.

Cost/Benefit analysis, if their work is substantial, they don't over complicate getting it done and then pay the agreed amount by the agreed time, guess you would have been stuck, but fail the CBA, and then it's time for the advice that involves sex and travel.

So for that one I asked them to carry the cost of the extra compliance, and they have since accepted TOTIKA. — Don Ramsay

Sweet Don, like your style :up:

That's very true Don, but only if there is wide spread support for it amongst your target group of potential clients, allowing you the luxury of ignoring those clients that choose to use another pre-qual supplier/system.