When a viral or bacterial outbreak hits your school, everything can change in the blink of an eye.
Students start calling in sick. Teachers notice symptoms spreading from one classroom to another before falling ill themselves. Before long, learning is disrupted, and your team is scrambling to respond.
As the facility manager, you’re often the one everyone turns to. You’re already managing HVAC systems, responding to maintenance needs, and making sure everything runs smoothly.
However, during an outbreak, one of the most important things to manage is the one no one sees: the air.
Airborne viruses and bacteria can spread quickly in a school setting. Without a plan to respond, poor indoor air quality can lead to more illnesses, higher absenteeism, and even the risk of school closures.
That’s why having a quick, effective response plan is not just helpful — it’s essential.
Schools regularly deal with outbreaks of common illnesses, many of which spread, at least in part, through the air. Poor indoor air quality doesn’t cause these illnesses, but it can make it easier for them to spread by allowing airborne particles to build up and linger.
Some of the most common illnesses that circulate through schools include:
These types of outbreaks are not rare, and understanding how they spread is key to controlling them before they disrupt your school.
You already know the basics — keeping classrooms clean, maintaining HVAC equipment, and following safety protocols. But even with all of that in place, it's easy to overlook how much air quality contributes to the spread of illness.
Contaminants build up fast, even if you can’t see them. Most HVAC systems recirculate the same air day after day. That might not raise alarm bells at first, but when you consider what’s in that air, it’s worth a closer look.
Viruses, bacteria, pollen, dust, and other pollutants are not just sitting on surfaces. They’re moving through the air, especially in schools with outdated ventilation systems. In older buildings with crowded rooms and limited airflow, contaminants can travel from one area to the next without much resistance. And the truth is, students and staff are breathing that air all day long.
The question you may be asking is: What can you do when air quality becomes a concern during an outbreak?
It starts with having a plan in place—a response that helps you take action quickly, protect students and staff, and get ahead of airborne threats before they spread.
Below, you'll find a step-by-step approach designed specifically for schools. These are practical, proven steps you can take to assess, contain, and restore air quality during a viral or bacterial outbreak—starting with something you can implement right away.
When an outbreak hits, a fast, focused response can help limit the spread of illness. These six steps will help you take control of your school’s air quality and protect students and staff when it matters most.
To take meaningful action, you need accurate insight into your building’s air conditions—and that starts with monitoring your indoor air quality.
Monitoring tools give you real-time data on CO₂ levels, airborne particles, and other indicators of ventilation performance. High CO₂ can suggest that a room is not getting enough fresh air, while elevated particle counts might indicate that contaminants are building up in the space.
By placing monitors in classrooms, cafeterias, and nurse’s offices, you can identify high-risk areas early, often before anyone shows symptoms.
This is not about guessing. It’s about using reliable data to act quickly and confidently.
Once you’ve identified an issue, the next step is to keep it from spreading.
You can start by turning off HVAC recirculation in the affected area. That keeps contaminated air from moving through vents and into other classrooms. At the same time, limit access to outbreak zones and make sure staff know which areas are off-limits until further notice.
This early containment gives you the space to work without exposing more people to airborne risks, and it helps stop the outbreak from growing.
Isolating the problem is only part of the response—you also need a way to actively clean the air. Not just once, but continuously. During an outbreak, contaminated air doesn’t stay in one place, and standard HVAC systems are not designed to disinfect the air in real time.
That’s why it’s important to have a system that works constantly to filter and reduce airborne pathogens as they circulate.
The HEPAFORCE® GermBuster is built for this exact purpose. With medical-grade HEPA filtration, it captures 99.97% of airborne particles down to 0.3 microns—including virus-carrying droplets linked to illnesses like flu, COVID-19, and RSV.
The GermBuster Room Air Purifier systems can be placed directly in outbreak zones and left running to reduce viral load quickly and effectively. Many schools also keep them running in shared spaces like libraries, staff lounges, and cafeterias to provide building-wide protection.
In a situation where every minute matters, you need a solution that works nonstop to clean the air and reduce the spread. The GermBuster helps you do exactly that.
While you’re managing an outbreak in a specific area, it’s just as important to step back and assess your school’s overall ventilation strategy.
Airborne contaminants don’t stay in one room — they move through hallways, shared spaces, and HVAC systems. That means building-wide airflow and filtration need attention, too.
Here are a few key steps to support cleaner air across your school:
Improving airflow throughout the building lowers the risk of airborne spread and strengthens your overall response.
Once you've addressed the immediate risk, the next step is getting the space back to a healthy baseline.
While your custodial team tackles surface cleaning, keep your GermBusters running in the background. The powerful air purifiers help capture any particles that get kicked up during cleaning, especially in outbreak zones where contaminants are more concentrated.
Be sure to sanitize high-touch areas, vents, and HVAC components using IAQ-safe products. Avoid harsh chemicals that release volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can linger in the air and affect air quality.
Finally, don’t overlook the HVAC filters. During an outbreak, they may have captured more particles than usual. Replacing or cleaning them not only helps restore proper airflow but also reduces the risk of reintroducing contaminants into the environment.
Resetting the space with clean air and clean surfaces helps close the loop on your response—and reinforces the work you’ve done to improve air quality across the building.
The final step is just as important as the first: keep monitoring.
After you've taken action, continue using your IAQ monitors to track air quality and confirm that conditions are improving. In high-risk or heavily used areas, it’s often a good idea to keep GermBusters running beyond the initial response period. This helps maintain protection and prevents airborne contaminants from building back up too quickly.
Over time, the data you collect will help you refine your approach, identify patterns, and make more informed decisions the next time an air quality concern arises.
You can’t always predict when an outbreak will happen, but you can be ready for it. With the right plan in place, you’ll be able to act quickly, reduce airborne risks, and keep your school running with minimal disruption.
HEPAFORCE® GermBusters are a critical part of that plan. They work continuously to remove harmful airborne particles and support a healthier school environment when it matters most.
You already do so much to keep your school operating smoothly. With a strong air quality response strategy—including real-time monitoring and trusted air purification—you can take even stronger steps to protect your students and staff.
Download the Ultimate Guide to Indoor Air Quality to get expert guidance on how to protect your students, your staff, and your facility with a proven air quality response plan