If you’re waiting for a break from bad news about COVID, don’t hold your breath — or, actually, do hold your breath. Experts have understood for months that the…

Filters can capture virus-laden particles through a number of methods, including physically trapping them with a fine enough filter and using electrostatic attraction to charge particles and force them to settle out of the air.

To catch the tiny aerosols that might be carrying the coronavirus, filters need a high enough MERV — yes, MERV. Surely you’ve heard of the minimum efficiency reporting value before, no? A filter with a MERV rating of 1, for example, will capture less than 20 percent of particles that are 3 to 10 microns across. As the MERV rating increases, so does the number of particles it captures, along with...

If you’re waiting for a break from bad news about COVID, don’t hold your breath — or, actually, do hold your breath. Experts have understood for months that the…

Filters can capture virus-laden particles through a number of methods, including physically trapping them with a fine enough filter and using electrostatic attraction to charge particles and force them to settle out of the air.

To catch the tiny aerosols that might be carrying the coronavirus, filters need a high enough MERV — yes, MERV. Surely you’ve heard of the minimum efficiency reporting value before, no? A filter with a MERV rating of 1, for example, will capture less than 20 percent of particles that are 3 to 10 microns across. As the MERV rating increases, so does the number of particles it captures, along with the amount of force an HVAC system needs to push the air through the fine filter...