Coronavirus Technology Solutions
June 25, 2020
Gore is Providing Laminates for Masks
FPS has Swab Testing Station Built Like an
Isolator
Vaisala Probes Used in H2O2 Decontamination
Systems
Daro UV Systems has Mobile Unit for Disinfection
Twenty Million Infected with COVID in the U.S.
Biox has Antiviral Coating for Interior and
Exterior Surfaces
Link Between Air Quality and COVID Transmission
__________________________________________________________________________
Gore is Providing Laminates for Masks
To help address the #N95 respirator
shortage, a small Gore team moved quickly into
action, getting respirator cover prototypes in
the field in less than a week. Made from a high
airflow Gore laminate that provides additional
protection, they are designed for reuse after
sterilization and worn over N95 respirators to
extend their use. In a blog they report that
they continue to manufacture and send them to
facilities in #COVID19 hot spots.
FPS has Swab Testing Station Built Like an
Isolator
Inspired by the Korean hospital of Yangji in
Seoul area, FPS designed and built a prototype
of a swab testing station. The idea was to
create a system that can test a high volume of
potential COVID-19 patients in a few minutes in
total safety for both the operator and the
patient.
FPS is an Italian company specialized in the
design and manufacture of containment &
isolation systems and micronisation solutions
for the handling and production of active and
sterile pharmaceutical ingredients. With almost
100 employees, more than 1,200 systems in
operation worldwide, FPS presents itself on the
market as an international company.
During this difficult period, FPS continues
working giving full support to its worldwide
customers to avoid the risk of impact on the
continuous production of pharmaceutical
compounds. This article discusses the
development process of a new system engineered
for the current international situation related
to COVID-19.
Inspired by the Korean hospital of Yangji in the
Seoul area, in under two weeks, they designed
and built the first prototype of STS. The idea
is to provide a system able to perform the swab
tests for COVID-19 on a high number of
potentially infected patients in a few minutes
and in total safety, both from the operator's
and the patient's point of view.
The main focus was to make cabins that are
easily transportable and, once positioned in
strategic points as hospitals entrances,
pharmacies, neighborhoods, public spaces, allow
for fast, safe and easy execution of swab tests
to a wide number of patients. The system that
was decided upon is composed of two cabins.
While one is used for swabbing patient, the
other can be sanitized ready for the next use,
and it will allow the performance of up to 10
swabs per hour.
The finished system consists of a module made of
two cabins and has many technical features that
optimize their usage. The module is set on
supporting frame and therefore is easily
transportable, which is key to a rapid response.
It also requires zero assembly and is 100%
plug-in system ready to use.
Within the frame of the new STS cabin, there is
a physical barrier between the patient and the
healthcare staff that are carrying out the
procedure. This barrier ensures maximum
protection by eliminating any risk of contact,
and subsequent contagion. The physical barrier
is possible as the wall itself is transparent
plastic, with special glove-supporting ports
installed within it.
This newly designed system means there is
maximum reduction/elimination of contamination
risks for the collected samples but also for the
environment thanks to a safe system for removing
the samples from the cabin (the safe system is
called a "liner"). The waste products generated
by the testing activities also have a safe
removal system by means of a secondary line.
The system is also equipped with powerful air
ventilation that speeds up the drying/aeration
phase after sanitization and reduces the
downtime between tests.
The operating procedure (that can be easily
adapted to different situations) could be the
following:
Each cabin is equipped with an air inlet grid
and an optional HEPA filter to ensure that the
cabin air is safe to be released even in a
closed environment. It is also possible to
install an automatic sanitization system to
eliminate or reduce the need for the physical
presence of any operator in the cabin.
In addition to the STS cabin, they also have a
different version and configuration of the
system that can be used for other critical
activities like personal temperature
measurement. The system can be set up to
function with an operator inside the cabin to
perform temperature measurements of a
potentially infected patient similar at hospital
entrances, airports. Another operator would then
be outside the cabin with a patient inside, for
example at the exit of the possibly contaminated
areas.
Vaisala Probes Used in H2O2 Decontamination
Systems
Innovative Vaisala measurement technology is
employed in frontline bio-decontamination work
to kill harmful organisms such as viruses on
surfaces. For example, Cleamix Oy performed
hydrogen
peroxide vapor bio-decontamination work in South
Korea during the coronavirus outbreak in early
2020. The Cleamix portable hydrogen peroxide
vapor generators use Vaisala’s HPP270 series
probes to monitor and control vapor output
during bio-decontamination.
Hydrogen peroxide vapor is capable of killing
even the most resistant microorganisms, which is
why it is utilized in the disinfection of
critical spaces. Decontamination requires
specific concentrations for specific periods of
time. Furthermore, hydrogen peroxide is an
unstable gas so it has to be monitored closely.
It is also a costly resource so its use needs to
be optimized.
In the absence of hydrogen peroxide vapor, the
relative humidity of air is equal to the
relative saturation. When vaporized hydrogen
peroxide is introduced, the relative saturation
becomes greater than the relative humidity.
Relative saturation is a parameter that
indicates the humidity of the air caused by both
hydrogen peroxide vapor and water vapor. When
relative saturation reaches 100 %RS, the vapor
mixture starts to condense. Monitoring the
relative saturation value during a process is
therefore crucial, because it indicates the
saturation point of the combined vapors.
The unique Vaisala PEROXCAP hydrogen peroxide
sensor employed by the HPP272 probe measures
relative saturation as well as dew point and
vapor pressure, which can also be critical
parameters in decontamination. The probe
therefore guarantees stable, reliable and
precise hydrogen peroxide measurements
throughout the decontamination cycle, even in
high humidity. It is therefore utilized by the
manufacturers of bio-decontamination equipment
around the world.
Daro UV Systems has Mobile Unit for Disinfection
As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, Daro UV
Systems has accelerated the production of its
Mobile UV Disinfection unit. The British
manufacturer (part of the Daro Group), is keen
to encourage greater awareness around the
benefits of UV when it comes to infection
prevention.
The Mobile UV Disinfection Unit is a tablet
controlled fully portable UV germicidal unit
with motion-sensor safety feature, designed to
quickly and effectively disinfect rooms and
visible contents to prevent the spread of
infection and cross contamination.
With easy to use technology, the unit can be
placed in any room for just 10 minutes and will
fully disinfect surfaces, accessible objects,
and air within a 2.5 meter radius. Repositioning
and multiple cycles are recommended to reach all
parts of a room. The UV-C light in the lamps
deactivates the DNA in viruses and bacteria,
preventing replication and essentially 'killing'
the organism, thus removing the threat of
infection.
It is essential that there is no personal
exposure to the UV lamps, therefore the
equipment has motion sensors built in to cut the
UV activity, to automatically keep unit
operators safe.
In its latest Covid-19 update, based on current
disinfection data and empirical evidence, the
International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA)
believes that UV disinfection technologies can
play a role in a multiple barrier approach to
reducing the transmission of the virus causing
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2.
Daro UV, an NHS approved supplier and specialist
in ultraviolet (UV) systems since 1985,
specializes in the design and manufacture of UV
products for water, air and surface disinfection
and hygiene equipment - using long-wave UV
light. Since the onset of the coronavirus
COVID-19 outbreak, Daro has focused its
manufacturing capability to producing as many UV
products as possible, including the mobile
disinfection unit and its Hand Inspection
Cabinet.
Julian Cant, General Manager at Daro UV Systems,
said: "Unlike with antibiotics and chemical
disinfectants, bacteria and viruses have not
been known to develop further resistance to UV,
making it a long-term option for ongoing
protection in locations such as hospitals,
surgeries, schools, care homes and gyms.
Twenty Million Infected with COVID in the U.S.
The good news is that we are 10% of the way to
herd immunity. The bad news is that 20 million
people have been infected and the rate of
infections is increasing. It may be more than
coincidental that States where air conditioners
are on and people are mostly inside because of
the heat are where much of the recent increase
is occurring.
There is mounting evidence that most infections
result in no or mild symptoms. We know that
breathing and talking can generate small
aerosols that pass through inefficient masks
worn by the transmitter and then through
inefficient masks to the older individual who
becomes seriously ill. If either or preferably
both were wearing efficient masks the
transmission would be greatly reduced.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott paused any further phases
to reopen the state on Thursday and issued an
order to ensure hospital beds be available for
Covid-19 patients.
Abbott's moves came as his state, California and
Florida -- the three-most populous -- set
records for new
coronavirus cases daily
amid fears of "apocalyptic" surges in major
Texas cities if
the trend continues.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a budget
emergency to free up $16 billion to fight the
pandemic, according to a release from his
office.
And the head of the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said the US has only
counted about 10% of coronavirus infections.
That might mean as many as 20 million Americans
have been infected.
Officially, coronavirus has killed at least
122,238 people and infected almost 2.4 million
nationwide, according
to Johns Hopkins.
Florida and Texas announced Wednesday that they
had recorded more than 5,000 new Covid-19 cases
the prior day, a new daily record. California reported
more than 7,000 cases,
obliterating a record hit a day earlier.
Florida passed 5,000 again on Thursday,
according to new state data.
Florida, Texas and California account for 27.4%
of the 328 million people living in the US,
according to the latest US
Census Bureau estimates.
The CDC has been looking at antibody tests done
across the country to see how many people had
past infections that were not diagnosed at the
time, said director Dr. Robert Redfield. It is
seeing many more cases than have been reported
officially.
"A good rough estimate now is 10 to 1," Redfield
told a media briefing.
This is partly because testing had been limited
to people who were seriously ill and showing up
in hospitals or nursing homes. But now, as more
people are being tested, it is becoming clear
that a large percentage of people did not have
any symptoms, or mild symptoms, Redfield said.
Younger people testing positive at a higher rate
is a "smoldering fire" that will hit vulnerable
populations, said Erin Bromage, a CNN medical
analyst and a biology professor at the
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Health experts didn't focus on younger people at
the beginning of the pandemic because the
priority was the older population and those with
underlying health conditions who required
hospitalization, Bromage said.
"We're now seeing what is really happening,
which is those 18- to 44-year-olds are being
affected at a really high rate. Their social
networks, their employment, is allowing them to
mix at a higher rate, and we're seeing the
infection rate -- especially in Texas, Florida
and Arizona -- just skyrocketing in that
demographic," Bromage said.
Bromage explained that while younger people with
Covid-19 are not "as prone to severe disease as
the elderly," they will still put this
population at risk. "That's when we end up with
lots of sickness and lots of disease."
Asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people
continue to be a challenge, two health experts
told CNN's "New Day."
"We can't get ahead of the person who doesn't
have symptoms and get them to quarantine," said
Dr. David Persse, the public health authority at
the Houston Health Department. "They need to
start wearing masks and social distancing all
the time.
Athletes have Lingering Health Issues Due to
COVID
The cost of COVID has to be measured not only in
terms of deaths and number of sick days but in
terms of longer term impacts on individuals.
Athletes are a case in point.
Von Miller of the Denver Broncos called the
disease a “surreal” experience and said he
struggled at first to work out. Other athletes
have endured lingering lung and other health
issues.
It was the end of March, and Josh Fiske, a
urologist from Livingston, N.J., was in the
hospital fighting an uphill battle against the
coronavirus. Just a week earlier, he had easily
jogged a five-mile route around his
neighborhood. But his body was failing him now.
His oxygen levels dipped dangerously low, and
his fever rocketed to a worrying 104 degrees.
Shifting his body in bed exhausted him. Walking
a few steps felt like “hiking in thin air.”
Opening a bottle of iced tea was “a huge task.”
Fiske kept fighting, though, and eventually,
with the help of his doctors, he turned a
corner. Yet even as he did, even as he seemed
assured of avoiding the worst outcomes of the
virus, a different sort of anxiety consumed him.
“I started to think, ‘Am I going to be able to
run again? Am I going to be able to walk the
golf course?’” said Fiske, 46, who does a
marathon or half-marathon every year. “These are
things I love to do.”
The coronavirus has infected millions of people
around the world. Athletes tend to view
themselves as perhaps better equipped than the
general population to avoid the worst
consequences of the disease the virus causes,
Covid-19.
Yet interviews with athletes who have contracted
the virus — from professionals to college
athletes to weekend hobbyists — revealed their
surprise at the potency of its symptoms,
struggles to reestablish workout regimens,
lingering battles with lung issues and muscle
weakness, and unsettling bouts of anxiety about
whether they would be able to match their
physical peaks.
And with sports leagues around the world
scrambling to restart play, more athletes could
soon be taking on a significant amount of risk.
“It definitely shook me up a bit — it was very
surreal, you know?” Von Miller, a linebacker for
the Denver Broncos who contracted the virus,
said in an interview. “My biggest takeaway from
this experience is that no matter how great
shape you are in physically, no matter what your
age is, that you’re not immune from things like
this.”
Miller, who has had asthma his whole life, said
he was left shaken up by shortness of breath and
coughing when he tried to sleep. He said he felt
himself “fatiguing faster” when he first tried
working out again in his home gym, but that now
he was training “full-on” again.
Experts warn that the virus does not
discriminate.
That was the lesson Andrew Boselli, an offensive
lineman at Florida State, learned as members of
his family — including his father, Tony, 47, a
former N.F.L. lineman — began showing symptoms
in March.
“I knew I was young and healthy,” said Boselli,
22, who moved home to Jacksonville, Fla., after
the university closed its doors. “I play
Division 1 football, and I’ve been training my
butt off all winter and spring. I thought I had
no worries. I wasn’t going to get it.”
That bullish attitude faded days later, when he
awoke feeling sluggish and short of breath. That
night, his body temperature climbed to 104.
“It was the sickest I’ve ever felt,” said
Boselli, who continued to feel shortness of
breath and fatigue for about week and a half.
In Italy, Paulo Dybala, an Argentine player with
Juventus, described his own unnerving experience
dealing with respiratory symptoms.
“I would
try to train and was short of breath after five
or 10 minutes,” Dybala said in an interview with
the Argentine Football Association, “and we
realized something was not right.”
Panagis Galiatsatos, a pulmonary physician and
assistant professor at Johns Hopkins, said that,
like much about the disease, the long-term
consequences for athletes who contract it are
not fully understood. Athletes, though,
represent interesting case studies for doctors,
given their generally good baseline health and
nuanced awareness of their own bodies.
“Patients who are athletes, I love them, because
they will pick up subtle changes sometimes way
before even the tests identify a disease,”
Galiatsatos said.
Galiatsatos singled out three complications from
Covid-19 that could be of particular concern to
athletes.
First, coronavirus patients, like anyone with a
serious respiratory infection, were at risk for
long-term lung issues. He often saw patients
“who three months ago had a bad virus and still
can’t get their breathing back to normal.”
“Sometimes a bad virus creates an airway disease
similar to an asthma,” he said. “They can ravage
the lungs, where the lungs were rebuilt, but not
well, and patients are stuck with an asthmalike
reactive airway disease situation.”
One problem that Galiatsatos considered
particularly concerning to athletes, and one
that experts were still trying to wrap their
heads around, was the high incidence of blood
clots that doctors were seeing in coronavirus
patients. People diagnosed with blood clots, and
prescribed blood thinners, are typically
discouraged from participating in contact
sports.
Finally, Galiatsatos said people unfortunate
enough to be placed in intensive care could deal
with “I.C.U. acquired weakness.” Patients placed
on ventilators and confined to a bed often lost
between 2 and 10 percent of their muscle mass
per day, he said.
Ben O’Donnell, a triathlete who lives in Anoka
County, Minn., lost 45 pounds during a four-week
hospital stay during which he was placed on a
ventilator and a short-term
life support machine.
Biox has Antiviral Coating for Interior and
Exterior Surfaces
BioX Pro, the U.S. based wholly-owned subsidiary
of BioX Group, a leading chemical provider,
supports the transportation industry and its
users with a new protective coating. Airports,
train, subway, and bus terminals, as well as
airplanes, train cars, and buses can now rely on
a long-lasting protective shield to keep their
travelers and staff safe.
BioX Group is part of Quima International,
LLC a Texas based company with over 20 years in
the industry. The companies are headquartered
in Houston, TX with additional offices
in Monterrey, Mexico
Link Between Air Quality and COVID Transmission
Analysis of air pollution, COVID-19 cases and
fatality rates in London demonstrates a
connection between increased levels of nitrogen
dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter
(PM2.5) and higher risk of viral
transmission.
McIlvaine wonders whether the correlation could
be due in part to virus particles traveling on
air pollutants as was documented in the Lombardy
region of Italy.
Scientists at the Universities of Birmingham and
Cambridge say that this shows air pollution
could be used as an indicator to rapidly
identify vulnerable parts of a city such as
London – informing decisions to suspend or
reduce operation of buses, trains and
Underground.
Researchers have published their findings today
in
Science of The Total Environment,
highlighting that using public transport in the
UK during a pandemic outbreak has a six-fold
increased risk of contracting an acute
respiratory infection.
City boroughs with access to London Underground
interchange stations also have higher pandemic
case rates as users are exposed to higher number
of individuals compared to through stations.
Report author Dr Ajit Singh, from the University
of Birmingham, commented: “Short-term
exposure to NO2 and PM2.5
is significantly linked to an increased risk of
contracting and dying from COVID-19. Exposure to
such air pollutants can compromise lung function
and increase risk of death from the virus.
“Levels of airborne PM2.5 in the
London Underground during summer are often
several times higher than other transport
environments such as cycling, buses or cars.
We recommend a strategy that tailors the level
of public transport activity in cities like
London according to COVID-19 vulnerability based
on air pollution levels across the city.
“This could help decision-makers take the right
measures to counter COVID-19 in London – for
example deploying transport staff and arranging
dedicated services for key workers.”
Scientists have
earlier
found the greatest PM2.5
concentrations across the London Underground
network on the Victoria Line (16 times higher
than the roadside environment), followed by the
Northern, Bakerloo and Piccadilly lines.
Routine cleaning and maintenance of the London
Underground ranges from litter removal to
preventing safety incidents rather than reducing
PM concentrations.
Co-author Dr Manu Sasidharan, of the University
of Cambridge, commented: “Human-mobility
reduction measures provide the greatest benefit
in the fight against COVID-19. We need to
balance the public health benefits of closing
public transport during a pandemic against the
socio-economic impacts of reducing mobility.
“Determining the vulnerability of city regions
to coronavirus might help to achieve such
trade-offs - air pollution levels can serve as
one of the indicators to assess this
vulnerability.”
|