Erie County funds air filtration units for licensed day care centers, school-age child care programs, K-12 school health offices

Project expands on last year’s initiative that delivered more than 10,000 units to classrooms

Submitted by the Erie County Department of Health

The Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) has purchased and coordinated delivery of about 1,700 air filtration units for licensed day care centers, school-age child care programs and K-12 school health offices and isolation rooms.

This project expands on the county’s initiative last spring, which funded more than 10,000 air filtration units in every single public and private K-12 classroom in Erie County. Austin Air Systems of Buffalo manufactured these units, which purify the air by filtering out bacteria, viruses, pollen and particulate matter.

In total, 1,667 units will be delivered by the end of June, funded by about $890,000 in federal monies intended to support COVID-19 mitigation and safety measures in schools.

Austin Air Systems also supplied the units that Erie County purchased for all public and private K-12 classrooms in 2022 – a $5.3 million investment in healthier school environments.

“This project gives another level of protection for children, teachers and child care staff against disease transmission,” Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein said. “With other emerging public health threats, like the air pollution caused by wildfire smoke earlier this month, having these units running makes the air indoor spaces where kids spend time clearer and cleaner. That is particularly important for children, pregnant people, older adults and anyone who has asthma and other heart or lung conditions.”

For more:

 √ Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH): www.erie.gov/health

√ Austin Air Systems: https://austinair.com