McIlvaine Coronavirus Market Ale

McIlvaine Provides a Coronavirus Solution Bridge Between Suppliers and the Food Processing Industry

Bassaire is the oldest cleanroom company in the UK and has been awarded ISO9001 accreditation.

The company has considerable experience in building pharmaceutical cleanrooms. It also supplies fan filter units and will be a resource for coronavirus mitigation. http://www.bassaire.co.uk/

In 2018 Avantor acquired VWR for approximately $6.4 billion cash, in a deal the companies said would create a combined global provider of consumables-focused solutions and services to life sciences and advanced technologies businesses, as well as education, government, and research institutions.

The deal was designed to enable the combined company to serve customers from research through production by joining Avantor’s strengths in cGMP manufacturing processes and significant exposure to emerging markets with VWR’s focus on providing product and service solutions to laboratory and production customers in the Americas and Europe.

VWR supplies masks, gowns, gloves and other consumables. It also supplies hardware from various manufacturers such as clean benches from Bassaire (covered in the previous article).

VWR® Advanced Protection Face Masks offer excellent bacteria and particulate protection and are available in multiple styles to provide security and comfort throughout extended use.

Masks feature three-ply construction for excellent particle and bacterial filtration efficiency. Available in two styles, with spandex ear loops or polypropylene ties ultrasonically welded to maintain softness and protect against particulates. An encased, 12cm (4³/₄") malleable steel nose-band creates a secure facial seal and improves wearer comfort. Latex-free. Masks are rigorously tested and manufactured in an ISO Certified facility under stringent process controls to ensure that each product meets exacting quality standards. Products are validated through independent lab testing.

Description	Color	VWR Catalog Number	Unit	Price
Mask with Ear Loops	Green	414004-663	Case of 500	$236.78
Mask with Ear Loops	Green	414004-663	Pallet of 30000	$14,164.42
Mask with Ear Loops	Blue	414004-662	Case of 500	$236.78
Mask with Ear Loops	Blue	414004-662	Pallet of 20000	$9,442.94
Mask with Ear Loops	Yellow	414004-665	Case of 500	$231.95
Mask with Ear Loops	Yellow	414004-665	Pallet of 25000	$11,593.12
Mask with Ear Loops	Pink	414004-664	Case of 500	$232.13
Mask with Ties	Blue	414004-666	Case of 500	$235.62
Mask with Ties	Blue	414004-666	Pallet of 18000	$8,472.51

We have previously written about Vogmask with designer type high efficiency washable masks selling for $33. Here is mask which sells for around $5 from 22 Mask.

The mask complies with national standard GB2626-2006. Filtration efficiency is not less than 95%. Effective Protection: 5 layers of protection, disposable dust mask, activated carbon layer, non-woven fabric layer, double electrostatic absorption cotton and soft non-woven fabric layer. Can filter tiny dust, pollen, particulate matter and almost 95% of particles in the air.

The meatpacking industry hit a grim milestone this week when the number of coronavirus cases tied to outbreaks at its plants passed 10,000, according to USA TODAY and Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting tracking.

At least 170 plants in 29 states have had one or more workers test positive for the coronavirus. Some of those workers also have infected others, which is included in the count. At least 45 workers have died.

The outbreaks have prompted at least 40 meat slaughtering and processing plant closures – lasting anywhere from one day to several weeks – since the start of the pandemic.

The shutdowns sparked meat shortages in some parts of the country and triggered an executive order by President Donald Trump to keep plants open. But more than a week after Trump’s order, closures have continued unabated, the media outlets found.

Many companies said they have implemented social distancing measures for workers, but Smithfield Foods, one of the largest meatpacking companies in the U.S., said doing so would be difficult.

"There are inescapable realities about our industry," a statement on its website reads. "Meat processing facilities, which are characterized by labor-intensive assembly-line style production, are not designed for social distancing."

In this poultry processing plant it will be very difficult to install partitions. These would also be ineffective as explained in previous alerts. The solution will be laminar downward flow from HEPA filters about 8 feet above the floor and air returns which allow air to flow at floor level behind the workstations.

The flow above the poultry workers would be similar to the flow above the cashier and customer at a checkout counter.

There would be a series of fan filter units on the poultry processing line just as there would be a series of fan filter units at checkout counters.

Federal officials withdrew approval for more than 60 manufacturers in China to export N95-style masks to the U.S. after finding what they said were a large number of low-quality products from those companies.

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it had cut the number of mask makers in China approved to make N95-style masks for use in the U.S. to 14, from around 80. That reversed an April 3 decision to allow imports from manufacturers whose masks hadn’t been tested by U.S. authorities but had been reviewed by an independent laboratory.

The shift illustrates the challenge to federal officials who are trying to help meet huge demand for masks from front-line workers battling the coronavirus pandemic, while also ensuring that medical gear works effectively.

“We’ve been using all of our authorities to increase availability,” an FDA official said in an interview. “There were a growing number of respirators that failed to meet the expedited performance standards.”

Scientists agree that the virus primarily spreads between people via droplets that fly through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks. Evidence also increasingly shows that the risk of infection is much higher in poorly ventilated, crowded areas.

So while it can be jarring to have a runner invade your 6-foot bubble, that fleeting moment is far less risky than, say, working in an office with hundreds of colleagues.

A recent study about an outbreak in a call center in Seoul, South Korea, revealed that almost half the employees on one floor got infected. Nearly all of them sat in the same section.

That makes the prospect of returning to offices risky. The more time you spend near someone who has COVID-19, the higher the chance their infectious droplets make it over to your face.

"I would not worry about walking by someone," Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University, told Slate. "Even in a healthcare setting, contact is defined by being near someone for a certain amount of time. I would not worry about these fleeting encounters."

Airflow matters, too. "In such a tightly enclosed space without vigorous air movement for a short period of time, I'm afraid you might be exposed," Schaffner previously told Business Insider.

The same goes for hospitals. A study published last week in the journal Nature found that virus particles were most highly concentrated in the air within the 9-square-foot toilet areas in patients' rooms in two hospitals in Wuhan, China. These toilets were not ventilated.

In ventilated ward areas, however, the amount of virus was very low, a difference the authors attributed to proper air circulation.

McIlvaine Provides a Coronavirus Solution Bridge Between Suppliers and the Food Processing Industry

Food processors around the world employ millions of workers and generate trillions of dollars in annual sales. The U.S meat packing industry has reported over 10,000 coronavirus cases. At least 170 plants in 29 states have had one or more workers test positive for the coronavirus. Social distancing is not an option as shown by this poultry processing plant.

The initiative to install partitions and to choose masks less efficient than N95 will not be a solution. Instead a whole suite of control technologies with foot sanitizers, fan filter units, laminar air flow, N95 masks and other PPE will be the answer

McIlvaine is acting as a bridge between suppliers and food processors to help them understand their options and make the best decisions for their plants. Daily Alerts, interviews and webinars are part of the McIlvaine program. The daily Alerts have details on specific plant problems and solutions which are cost effective. They can be searched as per the example for “pork” below

... April 16, 2020 Ventilation and Filtration Important in Buildings to Mitigate the Virus Impact Pork Processing Plant in South Dakota Tries to Cope with 600 COVID Cases Meat Processing Plants ...

... for JBS, the American subsidiary of the world's largest processor of fresh beef and pork. This week there probably will be around 500,000 head processed at U.S ...

... scanner purchases. So far, the scanners have been installed in four facilities; pork plants in Iowa and Indiana and poultry plants in Arkansas and Georgia. The company ...

... Workers Return to Wisconsin Meat Plant with 85 Positive Cases 116 COVID Cases at Oklahoma Pork Plant UNMC Provides a Draft Guidance on HVAC and Masks for Meat Processors ____ ...

... That has a big implication for Hong Kong, which imported all of its fresh pork and 94 per cent of its fresh beef from mainland China. Billion Dollar Meat ...

... which are federally inspected. In March, the country saw meat, beef and pork production reach record highs, according to the US Agriculture Department (USDA) . ...

... improve product quality. Studies have shown that cleaner environments can result in extension of pork shelf life by 12 days. Here are some of the mitigation technologies which can ...

... been investigated and deemed unfounded. In Buchanan County, Missouri, a Triumph Foods pork plant in St. Joseph is the only cluster of virus outbreaks, said Mary ...

... . These facilities represent more than 1 in 3 of the nation's biggest beef, pork and poultry processing plants. Rates of infection around these plants are higher than those ...

McIlvaine assists suppliers reaching those with needs as per the following example.

Over 500,000 people work in the animal slaughtering and processing industry in the U.S. 331,000 are in production. The top 100 U.S. based meat processing companies employ more than 500,000 people but many are not in the plants. Nevertheless office workers will need to be protected as well.

Food processing is just one of the applications covered in this worldwide service.