No, ventilating is not enough.

Ventilation is used to circulate the air in a room, allowing fresh air to come in from outside to refresh the air.

There are a variety of systems for renewing the air inside, from methods as simple as opening windows to complex air conditioning systems in large buildings. To understand how effective these systems are, the concept of ACH (Air Changes per Hour) should be used. If all the air contained in the room in question can be renewed in an hour, its efficiency is 1 ACH. If all the air in the room is completely renewed 5 times in an hour, the efficiency will be 5 ACH.

The air conditioning system of a hospital's intensive care unit should be designed to achieve an efficiency of at least 12 ACH. A single AP-AC product provides air sterilization in the presence of humans, providing the equivalent of 12 to 20 ACH air exchanges. It is often the equivalent of 2 ACH to mechanically ventilate the room by opening the windows.

The air of a room is renewed by mixing with the air coming from outside when the window is opened. In this case, viruses and bacteria in the air inside will also mix with the air coming from outside, so even if we renew the whole air, the microorganisms inside will continue to stay inside by constantly mixing with the fresh air coming from outside.

Studies on this subject conclude that in real conditions and using powerful ventilation systems, only 20% to 60% of microorganisms are expelled from the air inside.(1)
Being able to throw 20% to 60% depends on the density of the airflow we have. Currents that can pull out 40% or more of the microorganisms are very uncomfortable for the occupants, besides the windows are cold, hot, rain etc. It cannot be kept open all the time in weather conditions. In any case, as long as there are infected people inside, infectious microorganisms are always released into the environment, so increasing the Air Exchanges Per Hour helps to control the concentration of infectious microorganisms in the air to a certain extent.

Mechanical ventilation reduces the concentration of viruses and bacteria in the air indoors, but it is not enough.

 

(1) American Official Conference of Industrial Hygienists. Industrial ventilation: recommended practice guideline. 24 Cincinnati: ACGIH; 2001.