In early 2020, the world scrubbed down surfaces, washed hands and sneezed into elbows, desperate to avoid infection with a new coronavirus.
The virus was wafting through the air, set adrift in coughs and conversation, even in song.
The pandemic raged for six months before global health authorities acknowledged that it was driven by an airborne pathogen.
With that revelation came another: Had indoor air quality ever been a priority, the pandemic would have exacted a far lighter toll in the United States.
Most Americans are still squeezing into offices, classrooms, restaurants and shops with inadequate, often decrepit ventilation systems, often in buildings with windows sealed shut.
Locations:
countertops, United States