Coronavirus
Technology Solutions
Filterbuy Opening Air Filter Plant in
Pennsylvania
Researchers Find Wearing Face Masks May Reduce
Cancer Risks Associated with Airborne
Carcinogens
Artoflix N95
Mask Approved
by Health Canada
Nanofiber Group Offers Licenses and Equipment
for Mask, Filtration and Wipes Manufacturing
Employers Can Require High Efficiency Masks Even
if OSHA Does Not
____________________________________________________________________________
Filterbuy Opening Air Filter Plant in
Pennsylvania
Researchers Find Wearing Face Masks May Reduce
Cancer Risks Associated with Airborne
Carcinogens
Europe is Battling
a New COVID Surge
These restrictions are already in effect in
Paris and some other departments and were
extended in
an announcement by Emmanuel Macron on
Wednesday evening. A 7 PM to 6 AM curfew has
been extended to the whole country. However, in
a surprising move, Macron said there would be a
“tolerance” for people wishing to go somewhere
beyond the 10 km limit this Easter weekend,
until 7 PM on Monday, which is a bank holiday.
The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said
that after 7 PM on Monday, when the tolerance
ends, police and gendarmes would be dispatched
to ensure the rules were enforced. From that
point on, interregional travel will be banned.
The French are being encouraged not to meet for
family Easter gatherings because of the
increased risk of coronavirus contamination and
spread.
Travel in and out of the country is not
encouraged and is subject to rules and Covid-19
tests. It is easier to enter France from another
EU nation, but travelers must still show a
negative PCR Covid test. From the UK you can
only enter France under
certain stricter conditions, which also apply to
arrivals from other countries. The rules do not
apply to the thousands of cross-border workers.
In Belgium, the Easter holidays officially take
place from Saturday to 18 April but started a
week earlier for pupils and parents. The
government closed schools from 26 March as part
of a tightening of its long-running lockdown.
As part of its response to a rise in cases, the
government also maintained a ban on
non-essential travel in and out of the country,
a move criticised by the European commission.
The tourism ban
will be in place until the end of the holiday
period. So-called “nonessential” journeys are
still allowed within the country, which means
day trips or a few days away from home are
possible. Holiday parks, hotels and campsites
are open, but restaurants and bars remain
closed.
After recent chaotic scenes at Brussels-Midi
train station, where huge crowds of people were
left waiting for trains to the coast, people are
being advised to avoid visiting resorts such as
Ostend and Knokke. The Belgian rail company SNCB
said that for Easter it was reducing capacity on
trains to the coast to 50%, with only window
seats used on services.
Spain remains under a state of emergency and
subject to an overnight curfew that varies from
region to region as a fourth wave of the virus
begins to take its toll.
Travel between different regions is not allowed
except for emergency reasons, denying many
Spaniards their Easter jaunts or visits to
celebrate with their extended relatives. The
restrictions have annoyed some people,
especially as visitors
from other European countries are
allowed to travel to Spain by air or sea as long
as they show a negative result for a PCR test
taken no more than 72 hours prior to arrival.
A recent influx of French tourists who had
travelled to Madrid to escape lockdown
restrictions at home has raised eyebrows in Spain,
but their presence
has been welcomed by the hospitality industry.
Spaniards are also allowed to travel abroad,
subject to the rules governing visits to other
countries.
This week Portugal’s interior ministry announced
that people arriving from countries with an
incidence rate of more than 500 cases per
100,000 population over the previous 14 days
would have to quarantine for two weeks and could
come on essential business only. The quarantine
period also applies to people whose journey
originated in the UK, Brazil or South Africa.
All arriving passengers must show a negative PCR
test from the previous 72 hours. Flights to and
from the UK and Brazil remain prohibited except
for repatriation flights.
Portugal was put under a second lockdown in
mid-January, and on 28 January it registered a
record one-day tally of 16,500 new infections.
There has since been a drop in cases, allowing
the government to ease restrictions gradually.
In Greece, small retail shops will reopen for
business from Monday under so-called click-away
and click-in-shop modes, meaning consumers will
need to make appointments and comply with a
three-hour limit for shopping.
Bars and restaurants remain closed with the
centre-right government threatening to step up
penalties for owners who allow customers to
gather with drinks outside premises. But bans on
movement have been eased in what has been
described by officials as “decompression valves”
aimed at managing mounting fatigue with
restrictions. From Saturday people will be able
to drive beyond the limits of their municipality
to exercise or get fresh air.
The first trickle of tourists has begun flying
into the country, with Germans who could prove
they had been vaccinated or had negative PCR
tests arriving in Crete last weekend. With
hotels closed, most are staying in pensions and
rented accommodation. Britons with second homes
in Greece have
also arrived ahead of Easter. New arrivals are
required to self-isolate for a week and will
have to adhere to strict lockdown measures,
including notifying authorities by text message
of their movements once quarantine periods end.
Travel in and out of Germany is permitted, but
travelers have to provide a negative Covid test
before boarding an inbound flight, whether or
not the area they are travelling from is
classified as a “risk area”.
Holiday trips within Germany are
discouraged, with hotels across the country only
allowed to accommodate travelers for “necessary
and expressly non-touristic” purposes, such as
people on business trips. The same rule applies
to campsites.
Outdoor Easter egg hunts with grandparents are
allowed, though staying with them for the
weekend is only permitted for small groups. No
more than five people over the age of 14 and
from two separate households are allowed to meet
indoors.
The red zone measures are not as tough as those
in place last spring, as people are not forced
to stay at home. They can walk or exercise close
to home, and a maximum of two people (not
counting children under 14) are permitted to
visit another household within their town no
more than once a day. Families can also travel
to second homes, apart from in regions where
there is a ban, such as Sardinia and the Aosta
Valley.
Ireland remains under maximum-level pandemic
restrictions, with a 5 km travel limit and a
mandatory 12-day hotel quarantine for travelers
from 32 countries deemed high risk. From 6 April
another 26 countries – none from the EU – will
be added to the quarantine list.
Health officials wanted to add even more
countries, including France, Germany, Italy and
the US, but faced resistance from the attorney
general and foreign ministry. 200 Air Purification Units
Installed in 29 JTA Properties RGF® Environmental
Group, Inc., announced the successful
installation of RGF's patented air treatment
solutions across the Jacksonville Transportation
Authority's (JTA) real estate portfolio. The 29
buildings represent over 203,000 square feet
protected by RGF air treatment solutions with a
proven efficacy of greater than 99% for
neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus within indoor
spaces.
"RGF is working with building
owners across the United States to provide safe
environments for employees," said Tony Julian,
Vice President of Commercial Products, RGF®
Environmental Group, Inc. "Multi-modal
transportation hubs, such as the Jacksonville
Regional Transportation Center, are critical
links to get Americans safety to and from their
places of work." "The Jacksonville
Transportation Authority is committed to the
safety of our customers and employees during
this public health emergency and beyond," said
JTA Chief Executive Officer Nathaniel P. Ford
Sr. "The installation of RGF's equipment in our
indoor spaces is an example of our commitment to
providing a safe and welcoming environment for
everyone to experience." "Within a service and
maintenance contract with JTA, Weather
Engineers, Inc. provided engineering and
installation services for RGF's air treatment
solutions," notes Dan Griffin, president of
Weather Engineers, Inc. "The Indoor Air Quality
enhancement project includes the new
Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center at
LaVilla which serves as the JTA's main bus
transfer facility, regional mobility hub and the
JTA's administrative offices." For the project,
the JTA chose RGF's award-winning REME HALO®,
Package PHI Units, Mini Split PHI, BLU QR®
and PTAC PHI units. RGF® equipment is
installed in every HVAC unit and in every
building that JTA occupies. When integrated into
HVAC units, the RGF® equipment
inactivates SARS-CoV-2 by more than 99.9% as
demonstrated in a third-party study. The independent third-party
study focused on the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2
using RGF's proprietary REME HALO®
product with PHI-Cell® technology.
The study demonstrated efficacy rates greater
than 99.9% against the SARS-CoV-2 virus,
commonly known as the coronavirus 2019 or
COVID-19. The testing, performed at the
Innovative Bioanalysis Laboratories in Cypress,
Calif., looked at neutralizing the virus within
the occupied space in the air and on surfaces.
Results of the study can be viewed here:
RGF® Environmental
Group, Inc. manufactures over 500 environmental
products and has a 36+ year history of providing
the world with the safest air, water and food
without the use of chemicals. RGF is an ISO
9001:2015 certified research and innovation
company, holding numerous patents for wastewater
treatment systems, air purifying devices, and
food sanitation systems. Situated in the heart of the
Port of Palm Beach Enterprise Zone, RGF
Headquarters span 9 acres, with 130,000 square
feet of manufacturing, warehouse and office
facilities. RGF's Lakeland, FL facility adds
over 40,000 square feet for back-up production
and lamp production. RGF continues to upgrade
its facilities, creating an increased vertical
approach to manufacturing, further allowing the
company to provide the highest quality and
best-engineered products on the market.
Artoflix N95 Mask Approved by Health Canada
Artofix, a subsidiary of Duvaltex, the largest
manufacturer of office furnishing textiles in
North America, has developed a N95-type mask
recently approved by Health Canada. The mask,
manufactured through a predominantly Canadian
supply chain, offers a new standard in
breathability and comfort for this type of
personal protective medical equipment.
Nanofiber Group Offers Licenses and Equipment
for Mask, Filtration and Wipes Manufacturing
The Nanofiber Group is offering worldwide
licenses and unique melt-fibrillation equipment
for manufacturing fibers ranging in size from
200 nanometers up to and beyond 20 microns. The
technology includes decades of practical
experience and know how having produced
nanofiber products for 3M, GE Energy and others.
In addition, it includes access to over two
dozen patents from various, major companies.
Capital and operating costs are considerably
lower than conventional meltblown processes and
at comparable throughput. Plans are to have a
30" demonstration/production line up and running
summer of 2021.
NFG’s Sub-Micron, Melt Fibrillation uses a
minimum of three nozzles per inch for 30 grams
per minute per inch.
Employers Can Require High Efficiency Masks Even
if OSHA Does Not
There is anticipation of an OSHA rule to mandate
high efficiency masks. The regulation was
scheduled for March 15 but has been delayed.
However, employers have the power to enforce use
of high efficiency masks.
Under various federal, state, and local laws,
employers actually have an affirmative
obligation to provide a reasonably safe working
environment for their employees (as well as for
any clients, customers, or other visitors). When
the pandemic began, federal agencies like OSHA
and the CDC put in place certain procedural
guidelines for employers to enact (temperature
checks, social distancing, health screening,
etc.) in order to protect employees and other
third parties from the COVID-19 pandemic. Even
as states begin to allow employees to return to
normal life before face coverings, no guidance
issued by the CDC or OSHA suggests that the
federal government is supporting an end to mask
mandates.
In fact, OSHA’s February 2021 advisory guidance,
titled “Protecting
Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing
the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace”,
suggests that employers provide workers with
face coverings at no cost and require
non-workers who visit the workplace to wear face
coverings. The guidance pointedly does not
encourage employers to forgo mask
policies—instead, it states clearly, “Wearing a
face covering is complementary to and not a
replacement for physical distancing.” Any
employer looking to continue face covering
mandates in its workplace can look directly to
this OSHA guidance for support.
Of course, employers must discuss reasonable
accommodations with any workers who cannot wear
certain types of face coverings due to a
disability. The February 2021 OSHA guidance also
cautions employers to not implement measures
that would single-out employees who are not
vaccinated, for example only requiring
unvaccinated employees to wear a mask. And, as
always, employers should continue to take steps
to ensure that workers are not retaliated
against for raising any safety concerns. This is
especially important now that employees may feel
emboldened to set aside their face coverings
because they have been vaccinated.
OSHA also recently announced a new National
Emphasis Program (NEP) directive,
designed to significantly reduce worker exposure
to COVID-19 by targeting industries where
employees are likely to have a high frequency of
close-contact exposures (think healthcare
facilities, supermarkets, manufacturing,
restaurants, meat processing facilities, etc.).
Each OSHA Regional Office will conduct targeted
COVID-19 inspections from a randomized list, and
OSHA predicts that there will be about 1,600
inspections OSHA-wide. This NEP is effective
through March 12, 2022, unless canceled or
extended by a superseding directive.
Continuing to require face coverings may not
only be compliant with OSHA guidance; it may
also reduce liability for employers as they
begin to reopen their businesses to employees
and the public. Employers are also facing
multiple pandemic-related lawsuits relating to
COVID-19 cases and health risks. These cases
often involve alleged employer liability arising
from claims of wrongful death, negligence,
violation of OSHA standards, and failure to
enforce safety measures. However, as previously blogged,
there are steps an employer may take to minimize
exposure to COVID-19 related litigation,
including implementing and maintaining
pandemic-related safety measures consistent with
current federal, state, and local guidance.
With some exceptions, employers can still
mandate face coverings in the workplace as they
see fit, especially because face covering
policies relate directly to safety protocols
recommended by OSHA and the CDC to mitigate the
spread of COVID-19. CDC
guidance even
indicates that fully vaccinated individuals
still need to follow guidance at their
workplace. Thus, when faced with employees who
are refusing to comply with mask/face covering
rules at work, employers can in fact require
that face coverings are worn in the workplace or
on the job in accordance with its policies. In
the event employees refuse or fail to comply
with mask mandate policies, employers are able
to discipline and/or terminate employees in the
name of keeping other employees and the public
safe from the spread of COVID-19. Employers
should ensure that they have established face
covering/mask policies and other COVID-19
policies if they wish to enforce such
requirements amongst all employees.
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