New Air Safety Program for Schools from Primary.Health and Poppy
The two companies partner to offer easy solutions for safer air
Primary.Health, a web-based platform to manage infectious disease testing and tracking programs, and Poppy, providers of the world’s most advanced Air Monitoring system for indoor air safety, unveil their new air safety program for schools. Together, Primary.Health and Poppy offer a low-cost way to reduce infection risk, with or without HVAC. The program includes air monitoring and mitigation for schools, congregate living facilities, and public health domains.
"As an environmental expert, I understand the health implications that unhealthy air can have on schools and communities,” said Dr. Rachel Keith, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville, Primary. Health Advisor. “To make an impact, we need to coalesce around a common set of goals and help communities balance sensitivity and ease of use in healthy indoor air solutions. Primary.Health and Poppy’s program is an effective, low-touch solution that creates an environment for healthier air."
The program deploys Primary.Health’s web-based platform, Poppy’s air monitoring system, along with customized evaluation and education. Schools can expect these four steps as part of their partnership with Primary.Health and Poppy.
- Assess - A Building assessment with certified Equivalent Outdoor Air and effective Air Change Rate (eACH) scores, benchmarked against official guidelines.
- Response - Plans for improving short- and long-term safety that follow ASHRAE guidelines, including simple things that schools can do immediately.
- Empower - Data and resources to educate and empower school staff and facilitates managers about how and why to improve air safety for health.
- Report - Use a single command center & regular trend reports to drive decision-making and share progress
The program roll-out comes on the heels of ASHRAE and CDC issuing first-of-its-kind, proposed indoor air quality standards. ASHRAE has issued for public review a new proposed standard to reduce pathogen transmission, as the CDC released a health-based ventilation target of at least five air changes per hour. These standards are critically important as the Covid-19 public health emergency has ended.
“If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that school children, teachers, and faculty are overwhelmed and need simple, yet effective solutions to keep their schools healthy,” said Andrew Kobylinski, CEO and co-founder of Primary.Health. “The technology that Primary.Health and Poppy offer is affordable, accessible, and accurate, enabling schools to understand current infection risk better and monitor progress towards the new safety standards proposed by ASHRAE and CDC. We’re thrilled to help schools stay safe and healthy so they can focus on what’s important— education.”
Primary.Health has served more than 4,000 schools deploying large scale health programs, and together with Poppy, an emerging authority in air safety, completed two pilots. An initial pilot with four schools in the Bay Area demonstrated quantifiable improvements in air safety. One of the schools involved in the pilot experienced an average improvement of 2.5 eACH across classrooms, which equates to a 31.5% decrease in infection risk based on large-scale studies of transmission in schools. The two public health companies collaborated for a second pilot with Head Start Oakland in 13 locations. At Head Start, Primary.Health and Poppy helped severely vulnerable schools without the ability or budget to make major HVAC upgrades, improve air safety for students and faculty, and laid the groundwork for program management, empowerment, and project prioritization required for a large-scale product launch.
“We’re excited to continue to partner with Primary.Health to improve the quality of care across schools,” said Sam Molyneux, CEO and Co-Founder of Poppy. “With more than 600 air assessments, we understand how healthy air is pivotal to overall health. Primary.Health and Poppy’s program offers simple, easy-to-use technology and guidance that can help keep schools thriving.”
About Poppy: Poppy is an indoor health data company. Currently protecting nearly one million facility square feet, Poppy is building the infection-resistant future of the indoor world. Powered by advanced aerosol science and biotechnology, Poppy’s real-time air monitoring system is defining a new category of infection safety and building performance intelligence to secure occupant health, drive confidence, and reduce energy costs where we work, learn, and play. Founded in San Francisco in 2019, Poppy has 14 pending patents and is led by executives from Meta, Microsoft, Philips, GE Healthcare, and Life Technologies. Poppy is recognized as one of 2022’s Most Innovative Companies in the World by Fast Company. Learn more at poppy.com.
About Primary.Health: Primary.Health is powering the decentralization of care in public health. With access to easy and affordable diagnostics, Primary.Health is helping community leaders to reduce administrative burden, automate clinical workflows and integrate with the healthcare ecosystem. Primary.Health provides program management software and program design services enabling schools, public health, pharmacies, employers, and communities to remain safe and healthy. Primary.Health powers 10,000 sites across the U.S. and has helped to administer over 13 million tests and over 1.5 million vaccines. Through our work with the largest, most complex organizations at the height of the pandemic, Primary has earned the experience and trust to provide superior diagnostic testing for flu, COVID-19, STI, HIV, RSV and other conditions that threaten population health. Contact us today to learn more at https://primary.health/.
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