Coronavirus Technology Solutions
April 28, 2020
Air Canada Coronavirus Mitigation Procedures
Aerobiotix Sales of Room Air Purifiers to
Hospitals is Booming
More Evidence of Air Borne Virus Transmission in
a University of Nebraska Study
Noverus Blog Confirms the Dangers of Air Borne
Virus Transmission
Novaerus Air Disinfection Unit Recognized by
Chinese Regulatory Agency
Plasma Treatment of Airborne Viruses is
Effective
Daikin Technology Effective on Viruses
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Air Canada Coronavirus Mitigation Procedures
Though airlines across the world have radically
reduced operations due to the coronavirus, some
people still have to fly for a variety of
reasons. To protect passengers and crew as much
as possible from the transmission of COVID-19,
carriers have instituted numerous safety
measures. Here’s a look at what Canada’s major
airlines are doing to help stop the spread of
the coronavirus during flights.
In response to a directive from Transport
Canada, Air Canada has made masks mandatory.
This requirement applies to passengers at
specified areas in Canadian airports, during the
boarding process and during the flight.
Travelers must prove they have a suitable face
covering prior to boarding. Acceptable masks
include a cloth mask, scarf or similar item. See
the Public
Health Agency of Canada website for
more info.
Air Canada notes that it has implemented
physical distancing practices wherever possible
and is seating passengers as far apart as
possible. The airline is also encouraging
customers to check-in online or via the Air
Canada app rather than at the airport in order
to minimize social contact at airport check-in
areas.
Air Canada also reports that it is now making
N95 masks and protective single-use gowns
available to flight crews. The airline is also
providing all flight attendants with gloves,
antiseptic wipes and hand sanitizer.
Aerobiotix Sales of Room Air Purifiers to
Hospitals is Booming
Dr. David Kirschman, president and CEO of
Aerobiotix, a Miamisburg-based air purification
company, said over the past few weeks, as the
number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues
to grow in the U.S., Aerobiotix is selling more
Illuvia units than ever before.
“We’ve shipped more units in the past few weeks
than we had all year last year,” Kirschman said.
“Our business has exploded, I wish it were a
different reason why it’s exploded, but our
business has exploded. We’re working very hard
to ramp up production to meet the demand both in
the U.S. and globally.”
Kirschman said their product is already in 150
hospitals around the world — from Italy, to
Africa and beyond.
“We manufacture systems that are deployable in
hospitals that go in and recirculate and
sterilize air in a facility, or disinfect air,”
Kirschman said.
He said it’s critical to the health of doctors
and nurses. According to the Ohio Department of
Health, here in Ohio, 628 of the confirmed
COVID-19 cases are healthcare workers.
“We’re trying not to just protect the patients,
but also critically, the healthcare workers,”
Kirschman said. “They’re taking very high risks
being in these facilities. They’re taking
potentially higher doses of the virus in their
facilities.”
Which is why he said the Illuvia air
recirculation system is so important to have.
Here’s how the system works:
“It sucks the air into the unit, it goes through
a filtration system and it goes through an
ultraviolet light system,” Kirschman said. “And
so what we have is a special, what we call a
photolytic chamber, which is a box where we
highly concentrate the ultraviolet light, then
run that air through a HEPA filtration system,
then back out into the room.”
More Evidence of Air Borne Virus Transmission in
a University of Nebraska Study
Lack of evidence on SARS-CoV-2 transmission
dynamics has led to shifting isolation
guidelines between airborne and droplet
isolation precautions. During the initial
isolation of 13 individuals confirmed positive
with COVID-19 infection, air and surface samples
were collected in eleven isolation rooms to
examine viral shedding from isolated
individuals. While all 15 individuals were
confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2, symptoms and
viral shedding to the environment varied
considerably. Many commonly used items, toilet
facilities, and air samples had evidence of
viral contamination, indicating that SARS-CoV-2
is shed to the environment as expired particles,
during toileting, and through contact with
fomites. Disease spread through both direct
(droplet and person-to-person) as well as
indirect contact (contaminated objects and 20
airborne transmission) are indicated, supporting
the use of airborne isolation precautions. One
Sentence Summary: SARS-CoV-2 is shed during
respiration, toileting, and fomite contact,
indicating that infection may occur in both
direct and indirect contact.
Noverus Blog Confirms the Dangers of Air Borne
Virus Transmission
Suspension times will be far higher where there
are significant cross-flows, . . . with doors
opening, bed and equipment movement, and people
walking back and forth,” the BMC Infectious
Diseases authors note.
Even a surface landing may not represent the end
of a droplet’s airborne life: Droplets can be kicked
back up into
the air when a healthcare worker removes a gown
or exits the room, exposing the worker to
infection yet again.
Compounding the risk to medical workers,
infectious particles can be stirred up in the
course of caring for ill patients. The very
procedures used to save patient’ lives —
intubation, ventilation, nebulizing,
cardiopulmonary resuscitation — can
cause doctors and nurses to become infected.
A Chinese
team was
similarly persuaded after sampling the air in a
make-shift Wuhan hospital, fashioned from an
indoor sports stadium. High RNA concentrations
were found in rooms healthcare workers used to
remove protective clothing after treating
Covid-19 patients.
The researchers
suspect that virus-laden aerosols on the
clothing were re-launched when the gear was
taken off or that contaminated floor dust was
propelled airborne by foot traffic.
Either way, the
researchers concluded, “The virus aerosol is a
potential transmission pathway.”
http://blog.novaerus.com/is-the-new-coronavirus-airborne-and-what-does-airborne-mean-anyway/
Novaerus Air Disinfection Unit Recognized by
Chinese Regulatory Agency
China’s National Online Record Information
Service Platform for Disinfection Products has
recently registered the Defend 1050, Novaerus’
all-in-one air disinfection and purification
device. The National Platform recognizes
products it deems suitable for disinfection in
healthcare facilities nationwide, with all
products independently tested to ensure
compliance with national hygiene standards.
The Defend
1050 is
a medical-grade, portable device that uses a
combination of plasma and filter technology to
safely disinfect and purify indoor air,
supplementing surface and hand hygiene for
comprehensive infection control. The efficacy of
the device was tested and qualified by the
Guangzhou Institute of Microbiology.
The recognition is welcomed at a time when
clean, disinfected air is thought to play an
important role in preventing the spread of
COVID-19. Recently, aerosol transmission was
added to the diagnosis and treatment plan issued
by the National Health Commission and National
Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine
as a possible route of coronavirus (COVID-19)
infection. This suggests that the virus is not
only transmitted via airborne respiratory
droplets but also via aerosols that can remain
suspended in the air for long periods and can be
inhaled.
Novaerus portable air disinfection devices use a
non-selective, rapid killing, patented plasma
technology, offering a unique and safe solution
to kill airborne viruses 24/7. The technology
has been independently tested to reduce MS2
Bacteriophage, a commonly used surrogate for
SARS-CoV* (Coronavirus) by 99.99%.
Designed for rapid remediation in large spaces
and situations with high risk of infection, the
Novaerus Defend 1050 (NV1050) uses patented
ultra-low energy plasma technology combined with
a triple-stage Camfil® filter system to provide
a combined solution for air disinfection and
particle removal. The free-standing unit can be
wheeled easily to point of care and plugs into
any outlet.
The Defend 1050’s registration is an important
step for Novaerus, as they expand their
distribution network in China, providing health
facilities across the country access to Novaerus
patented clean air technology. Recently, the
company donated several air disinfection devices
to hospitals in Wuhan, the city at the centre of
the COVID-19 outbreak, to help them reinforce
their virus protection protocols.
Novaerus is part of WellAir, an Irish company on
a mission to reduce indoor airborne pollutants
to create living, working, and healing spaces
that foster rather than detract from human
health, productivity, and wellbeing. WellAir and
its brands, Novaerus and Plasma Air, can be
found installed in hundreds of hospitals, senior
living facilities, schools, casinos, railway
stations, residences, and industrial facilities
in more than 40 countries around the world.
Plasma Treatment of Airborne Viruses is
Effective
Cold atmospheric pressure plasmas have gained
significant recognition in recent years in the
field of healthcare, for example, in the
treatment of living cells, sterilization of
medical devices, wound healing, and blood
coagulation. The plasmas are nontoxic, provide
rapid and continuous antibacterial treatment,
leave no residues to clean up, and are easy to
scale up, compared to other approaches. They
present an advance over radio frequency high
vacuum plasmas used in the above applications by
eliminating the need for high vacuum pumps and
power systems. While the effects of atmospheric
pressure plasma on surface bound bacteria have
been well studied, their use for treating
airborne microorganisms has received much less
attention but was the focus of this study by
NASA, Stanford and Novaerus researchers.
The effect of dielectric barrier discharge on
the morphology and surface chemistry of E. coli
was studied using electron microscopy, infrared
spectroscopy, and x ray absorption spectroscopy.
The electromagnetic field around the DBD coil
causes severe distortion of the morphology of E.
coli to varying degrees from formation of pores
to shrinking and elongation of the cell
structure possibly resulting in leakage of vital
cellular materials. The observations made from
the core level K-edge NEXAFS spectra of carbon,
nitrogen and oxygen correlate well with each
other as well as with the FTIR spectra
confirming the oxidation, formation of
oxygenated components, and chemical modification
of the cell structure.
The bacteria underwent physical distortion to
varying degrees, resulting in deformation of the
bacterial structure. The electromagnetic field
around the DBD coil caused severe damage to the
cell structure, possibly resulting in leakage of
vital cellular materials. The bacterial
reculture experiments confirm inactivation of
airborne E. coli upon treating with DBD.
Daikin Technology Effective on Viruses
Daikin’s unique Streamer discharge technology
decomposes and removes allergens such as mold,
mites, and pollen along with unpleasant odors.
It is effective on viruses as shown below.
The filter also includes plasma technology and
HEPA filtration.
