WARREN COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – This year, Warren County is clearing the air. The county has paid visits to five school districts in recent weeks, in order to install a total of 208 air purifiers across classrooms.

Air purifiers were supplied to St. Mary’s/St. Alphonsus Catholic School in Glens Falls; Bolton, Johnsburg and North Warren central school districts; and Queensbury Union Free School District. The FilterQueen air purifiers were purchased with federal help through a CDC program and is intended as an added layer of safety against COVID-19 concerns.

“Our staff is very appreciative of the addition of the FilterQueen air purifiers within their classrooms and offices,” said Johnsburg Central School District Superintendent Mike Markwica. “We are in the middle of a project that will replace our unit ventilators, but are still working through the process with the State Education Department and are also facing possible supply issues. These air purifiers are a great addition as we work through this process.”

The purifiers are evaluated as three times better than HEPA, dealing with and destroying traces of SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as 99.99% of other viruses and bacteria. The $800 apiece units were purchased with help from the CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) program.

Bolton Central School District got 48 purifiers. Johnsburg received 80; North Warren and St. Mary’s/St. Alphonsus each received 22; and Queensbury received 36. Glens Falls City Schools were eligible to get purifiers as well, but recently outfitted its buildings with new purifiers during the 2020-21 school year.

“Our school districts have been great partners throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have been glad to work with them to provide the equipment and supplies they need to keep their students and staff healthy and their buildings open,” said Warren County Health Services Director Ginelle Jones. “We thank them for their willingness to work with us toward a common goal of public health.”