Saharan Dust will Interact with COVID Next Week in Florida

French Agency Certifies Mogul's Madaline Fabric for Facemask Use

New Medical Gown to Meet COVID Needs Produced by Cha Group

Precision Fabrics Group Provides Fabric for Reusable Medical Gowns

Public Health Guidelines are Downplaying the Role that Building Systems Should Play

Comfort First Provides Filters with Anti-Microbial Coatings

WIX® Filters Supplies Cabin Air Filters with Anti-Microbials

Big Need for Negative Pressure Rooms in Hospitals

Under Armour has Mask for Athletes

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Saharan Dust will Interact with COVID Next Week in Florida

 

A cloud Saharan dust drifting through the Atlantic is the first significant plume of desert-infused air this year. The billow of brown clearly seen on  satellite images could reach the Bahamas and South Florida next week.

The dust particles will provide a free ride for COVID viruses. Studies in the Lombardy region of Italy show the virus is attaching to air pollution particles. This drifting dust will provide a greater incentive to wear masks in Florida.

French Agency Certifies Mogul's Madaline Fabric for Facemask Use

Faced with Covid-19 and the shortage of masks, the French government wished to protect the population and increase the production of masks by testing textiles available on the market in order to verify their filtration and antibacterial barrier capacities.

In this context, the innovative Madaline microfilament fabric supplied by Mogul has been selected among thousands of others, by the French government, to make masks for the general public.

Under the control of the General Directorate of Armament Defense Procurement and Technology Agency (DGA)), according to standards published by AFNOR (normative organization delivering, among others, the NF standard for material and immaterial goods), the French Institute of Textiles and Clothing - IFTH - carried out a battery of tests on Madaline (micro filaments bi-component polyester / polyamide hydroentangled).

The conditions:

Samples with a surface area equivalent to 20 cm² must allow a flow rate of 96 l x m² x s

The results:

Air permeability under 100 PA after 10 washes is 112 liters (without washing 173 liters)
Aerosol protection efficiency for :
-       3 µm particles: 99% after 10 washes - 96% (without washes)
-       1 µm particles: 97% after 10 washes - 91% (without washes)

The conclusion:

The performances measured on the Madaline make it compatible with the standards related to the realization of category 1 masks (individual mask for use by professionals in contact with the public) washable and reusable.

Based on these conclusions, the new mask producers have a serious alternative to the shortage of meltblown PP.
- BFE 82-90% and PFE 90-98% which can be improved by lamination with spunbond PP
- Softness and comfort thanks to the structure of the microfilaments.
- Safe for the skin
- OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification (supplied on request)
- Certified by ECARF (provided upon request)
- Breathable and lint free
 

New Medical Gown to Meet COVID Needs Produced by Cha Group

The Cha Group was founded in 1949 by Dr. Cha Chi Ming in Hong Kong by establishing China Dyeing Works Limited. Today, the Cha Group is a global conglomerate with diversified businesses in property, technology, textiles, financial services and healthcare.

Through HDK Industries Inc (HDK) (a US leader for HVAC filter media) and Cosmotec (UK subsidiary), Cha Technologies Group manufactures a range of nonwoven filter media ranging from G2 to F6 (MERV 2 to 11) using a variety of nonwoven forming and bonding technologies. Starting with a wide variety of staple fibers, which are then carded, the web is bonded either by needling or thermal bonding.

To meet COVID demands it is producing a new line of medical gowns to meet level 1-3 criteria. Its sister facility, Finber Innovations Technologies developed a new fiber for use in gown applications.

These technologies allow for the creation of a wide range of filter media with tailored performance characteristics of efficiency, pressure drop and dust holding capacity.

In addition, CTG manufactures a variety of filter media used in liquid filtration (process and food grade) as well as automotive filtration (synthetic air intake, pre-filters). The company also makes face mask media.

Precision Fabrics Group Provides Fabric for Reusable Medical Gowns

Precision Fabrics Group is working overtime to expand its production of a special fabric for tens of thousands of protective gowns for hospital workers.

The company’s factories in Vinton, VA, and Greensboro are now working around the clock to make fabric that a Phoenix company is using to make tens of thousands of protective gowns for health care workers at the front lines of patient care.

The suits that medical workers wear are often made of non-woven polypropylene and cost about $1 each for one-time use every time a professional encounters a patient. Doctors and nurses are being forced to wear them more than once, however, putting their own health at risk as they go from infected patient to patient.

San Francisco-based Dignity Health is struggling to change that, so the nation’s fifth-largest health system contacted Phoenix-based Arizona Fashion Source, which can make the suits, to speed up its production to fight the pandemic. Dignity is the largest health system in California and many Western states.

When the order came in, Arizona Fashion Source knew about Precision Fabrics’ reputation for special polyester fabrics that it could use.

Before the pandemic, Precision was making its fabric for use in reusable suits for clean rooms in the pharmaceutical and electronics industries. But the fabric is easily treated to repel microorganisms and liquid, just the type needed for medical protective suits, said Byron Bassett, Precision’s corporate vice president.

Five weeks ago Arizona Fashion Source called and asked for 60,000 yards of the company’s fabric to make 30,000 of the reusable suits.

Within a matter of four or five days we had the 60,000 yards palletized and ready to go and we were ready to put it on a truck,” Bassett said. That would’ve taken another four or five days to reach Arizona.

For this urgent need, however, that wasn’t fast enough.

“We’re gonna send the Arizona National Guard to pick up the freight,” Bassett said they told him, to his great surprise.

So that’s what the Guard did: It flew a military tanker jet to Greensboro, refueling a couple of F-35 fighter jets in midair as it traveled, Bassett said, and landed on April 3 at a private hangar at Piedmont Triad International Airport. It picked up a truckload of fabric and headed back quickly to Phoenix.

The Arizona company will make 30,000 gowns that are reusable and can be washed up to 100 times each. They cost more, $20 apiece compared with $1 for the one-use gowns, but even with washing costs the gowns eventually allow the buyers to break even and, more important, preserve a steady supply of the essential equipment.

Bassett said that his company had a sense that higher demand was coming when it saw demand for equipment soar during the European pandemic in February. So it boosted production of the fabric and was almost ready when the Phoenix company called.

Now Precision’s 350 workers at the Meadowview Road plant are working three shifts around the clock, 13 days with one day off. Their job here is to treat the fabric that’s made in Virginia for health care use.

It’s crucial that those workers stay healthy, Bassett said, so they’re subject to health screening before every shift.

The company is working on three more orders for the fabric as the Phoenix company also boosts production to meet demand.

Bassett doesn’t expect demand for his company’s fabric to wane anytime soon. That’s because American health care companies and governments don’t want to be caught with broken supply chains again. So their goal is to find ways to make most of their required protective products in the United States.

Precision also provide engineered fabrics with ESD properties, antimicrobial properties, high filtration efficiency and comfort that meet the critical requirements of all classes of cleanrooms.

Woven protective fabrics are used in clean room apparel. Media for masks is also supplied.

Public Health Guidelines are Downplaying the Role that Building Systems Should Play

An article in Living Building Systems points out the potential for filtration and air flow control to be one of the most important weapons in the COVID fight. “The built environment component of this situation has been overlooked,” said Upali Nanda, director of research at HKS Inc. and a leading voice on the science behind healthy buildings.

Nanda and her colleagues are stressing their concerns just as many employers and building owners are reopening offices, shops and other commercial spaces — raising the specter of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

One leading advocate argued that both policy leaders and building operators should be wary of a natural bias toward measures that offer the false sense that janitorial crews can “wipe away” the virus.

“If somebody tells you, ‘OK, you get to choose how this disease is transmitted.’ Do you want to believe it’s transmitted by touching things so that you can scowl at people and tell them to use [personal protection equipment] and spray disinfectant,” physician and architect Stephanie Taylor asked in an interview. “Or do you want to say it’s really spread in these practically invisible aerosols that are literally everywhere? That’s a lot more scary.”

The heart of the issue is what researchers have uncovered, as well as what they don’t yet know, about SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease — and how it manages to infect people. While public health authorities say there are no proven cases of human beings acquiring COVID-19 by touching surfaces, they believe it’s possible. One study found that SARS-CoV-2 can survive up to three days on plastic, two days on stainless steel and a much shorter time on copper (a separate study reported a lifespan of a day on wood).

So all public health authorities appear to agree that it’s important for building operators to clean interior surfaces with soap and water, and to disinfect surfaces that are touched frequently.

But the same study also found that the virus can live for at least three hours in aerosols, which are tiny particles that can be carried through the air for long distances. Aerosols are more buoyant than the larger “respiratory droplets” that are more commonly understood to be sneezed, coughed or simply exhaled by infected people.

Because they’re heavier than aerosols, most respiratory droplets fall to the ground or onto surfaces with six feet of being expelled — hence the six-foot social-distancing rule. Although far from perfect, face masks can be effective at blocking these larger droplets, particularly the droplets coming from the person wearing the mask.

According to the prevailing theory, respiratory droplets are the primary vector for spread of SARS-CoV-2. But there’s a great deal of debate among epidemiologists over infection via aerosols. Some believe aerosols could only transmit the disease in unique conditions, such as hospitals, where vulnerable patients might be subject to large concentrations of SARS-CoV-2-carrying aerosols. Others believe that aerosols are potentially a major vector and that they could be responsible for particularly severe cases. 

In a recent Washington Post column Harvard public health scientist Joseph Allen noted a strong connection between aerosol, or “airborne,” transmission and indoor “super-spreader events”:

Airborne transmission — caused by small particles that can linger in the air for extended periods of time, unlike droplets from coughs, which settle quickly — is key to understanding why this disease spreads so rapidly in certain circumstances. It’s also key to figuring out how best to reopen our country.

Whether or not that’s the case, the implications are significant for mechanical equipment, because aerosols can be cast widely through various air-handling and ventilating equipment. If those aerosols can carry live SARS-CoV-2 cells over extended distances, unfiltered re-circulation of indoor air would be a potent way to spread the virus.

In April, ASHRAE — the organization that sets standards for heating, cooling and ventilation — appointed a COVID-19 task force that has offered up a bevy of recommendations related to building systems. Among them:

• Maintain a relative humidity of 40 percent to 60 percent inside buildings.
• Install air filters rated at least at MERV-13.
• Minimize the re-circulation of indoor air and bring in outside air either by mechanical means or by opening windows.

The first of those measures would address both respiratory droplets and aerosols because humidity increases the weight of both types of particles, causing them to fall from the air more quickly. Taylor, the physician and architect, is one in a small group that has campaigned for years for ASHRAE to raise its minimum relative humidity standard for controlled indoor environments from 20 percent to 40 percent .

Among other problems, excessively dry air allows heavier droplets to remain suspended for longer periods.

But the push for a 40 percent humidity minimum has butted up against the trend toward energy efficiency. Lower humidity is less demanding on various mechanical systems, and during the warm season, occupants tend to tolerate higher set temperatures if the humidity is lower.

While ASHRAE hasn’t yet adopted the higher humidity minimum, the COVID-19 task force has recommended that operators keep their buildings above 40 percent during the course of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, better filtration and ventilation would target aerosols by reducing their opportunity to travel around the building. Before the pandemic, MERV-13 filters were mainly used in healthcare settings. Although some systems cannot use MERV-13, ASHRAE and other authorities are suggesting the highest level filters that do fit.

Similarly, building maintenance personnel are being advised to turn off any functions that recirculate indoor air, to open up dampers that increase the importation of outside air, and to open windows where possible.

A key part of the recommendations from public health experts and healthy building advocates is to let in more fresh air by opening windows where possible.

Building experts have by no means argued that owners and employers focus only on humidification, filtration and ventilation.

“Take a systems approach towards re-booting,” Nanda said. “Think about the organizational and policy level first, followed by the building systems and interiors, and finally at the level of individual behavior, which includes use of [personal protection equipment].”

The building systems are being “ignored” in part because dealing with them requires the help of architects, engineers and other professionals, Nanda said. But she added that small business and property owners who have fewer building-operation professionals would benefit by considering some basic principles: Focus on the flow of people, supplies and air, for example. Pay attention to “thresholds” to enforce social distancing and even to check temperatures.

She also advised that office workers consider holding meetings outside and that building occupants spend more time on porches, patios and other “in-between spaces.” 

A guide that Nanda and a colleague wrote on the topic attaches specifics to each of those steps. The document, Reboot Readiness: A Primer on How to Design for Contagions, can be downloaded here.

https://livingbuilding.kendedafund.org/2020/06/11/covid-19-reopening-guidelines-slight-hvac-building-systems/

Comfort First Provides Filters with Anti-Microbial Coatings

Comfort First Products is working with business owners to create air filtering plans specifically designed to target COVID-19. Businesses that are concerned about the novel coronavirus spreading throughout their building through the air ventilation systems can reach out to Comfort First Products for guidance. With their unique air filtering systems, protecting against COVID-19 can be as simple as adding or changing the filter on the Comfort First Filtered Diffuser or Control-A-Flow Draft Eliminator in the office. Remember that air filters should be changed every three to six months.

Businesses that don't already have one of these products can order them with a filter. Comfort First can work with individual business owners to determine which is best for their system. There are several filters available on Comfort First's website that are effective for a COVID-19 prevention plan. For example, for the Control-A-Flow Draft Eliminator, the filters are treated with the Dow Corning (now Micorban) antimicrobial Aegis, which destroys 86.5% of airborne microorganisms on contact. This makes this product particularly effective for quelling the spread of the disease.

WIX® Filters Supplies Cabin Air Filters with Anti-Microbials

WIX® Filters, a global manufacturer of filtration products, supplies cabin air filters exclusively enhanced with Microban® antimicrobial product protection. The filters in the new line are protected from the growth of bacteria, mold and mildew to help keep negative elements from entering a vehicle’s interior and keep cabin air fresh for the lifetime of the product.

“We are absolutely thrilled to offer this product to our customers,” said Donald Chilton, vice president of product management for WIX. “Americans were stuck in traffic for eight billion hours last year, and for that amount of time, you want to know you’re breathing the cleanest, freshest air possible. Elevating our filter media with Microban product protection does just that, and places WIX at the top of the industry.”

Big Need for Negative Pressure Rooms in Hospitals

Most hospitals, small and large, have some form of negative pressure space. But a pandemic with a fast-spreading mystery virus has meant many facilities are having to come up—quickly—with more places to keep the COVID patients safely isolated. Some, like Humber River Hospital, in Toronto, built in 2015 with “SARS foremost in our mind,” according to president and CEO Barbara Collins, are purpose-built to be “pandemic safe.” She told Toronto’s The Star  that her hospital is capable of isolating entire departments under negative pressure. Moreover, the ambulance bay and an adjoining “hazmat room” are tailored for “seamless transformation” into a pandemic-ready area.

In an interview with WCMH-TV, Jo Henman, director of infection prevention at OhioHealth, in Columbus, said her facility has 85 inpatient negative-pressure rooms and, thanks to portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, the ability to create more if needed.

At Westchester Medical Center, an 895-bed regional system in the New York metropolitan catchment area, every ICU is negative pressure, and can swap out as needed (except with oncology and other high-risk patients, of course). Minnesota-based Alomere Health, which estimates its surge volume at 20 COVID-19 patients at full capacity, plans to use its negative pressure medical/surgical rooms if the ICUs overflow.  

The 1500-bed Cleveland Clinic has converted a 4-story health education building into a surge hospital, with 327 beds for low-acuity patients who don’t need ventilators and accommodating up to 1000 hospital beds if needed. California spent $30 million to lease short-term space. In late March, Detroit and Chicago were both planning to turn convention centers into temporary COVID-19 hospitals.

Or, a hospital might, like Brigham & Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Boston, just decide to do a large-scale conversion—in double-quick time. Faulkner rapidly transformed 2 negative pressure wards for COVID-19 patients. The initial plan went from concept to development within just a few days, with a project that included converting the existing HVAC systems to 100% outside air to eliminate the risk of recirculated air, revising the system controls by rewriting its code, and rebalancing the air distribution components.

Older hospitals, or those with budgets that won’t support major conversions, can still prepare quickly. The American Society for Health Care Engineers says that standard patient rooms can be retrofitted as negative pressure isolation rooms. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ Standard allows for using recirculated room air, provided the air first passes through a HEPA filter. This can be accomplished with a recirculating HEPA filter unit, the association says. 

In a real time-crunch, a temporary isolation area can be set up surprisingly fast. Investigators from University of Colorado, Boulder and the VA’s National Center for Occupational Health and Infection Control got a temporary 30-bed negative pressure ward up and running in less than an hour.  

They tested it in a fully functioning hospital in the San Francisco Bay Area. The existing ward had its own dedicated air-handling unit, dedicated bathroom exhaust system, a separate dedicated exhaust system for return registers in the isolation rooms, and a firewall separating the ward from the rest of the hospital. 

The research team used two heating, ventilation, air conditioning HEPA-filtered negative-air machines to establish the pressure. Performing pressure measurements at 22 locations, they found they maintained negative pressure that was actually higher than recommendations by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and there was no pressure reversal when medical staff entered or exited. They did find that some rooms became neutrally or slightly positively pressured, so they advise staff to use personal protective equipment at all times.

The infection prevention and control team “was heavily involved and present at every meeting,” hospital administration was very supportive, and the nursing staff were especially interested and engaged, Shelly Miller, PhD, the team leader, says.

And the research team proved that it could all be done in approximately 40 minutes—including installation and troubleshooting of the anteroom. “We wanted to get it up fast, it was duct tape and plastic,” says Miller.

Their solution could be lifesaving for smaller or rural hospitals. Miller points out that according to the Institute of Medicine’s report on medical surge capacity, the cost of pandemic preparedness is important to consider—tents, temporary housing materials, disaster response trailers, and HEPA-filtered negative-air machines are expensive. In their study, choices such as plastic sheeting with zippered openings helped lower costs.

A portable anteroom can be used as an extra layer of protection between the isolation space and the rest of the hospital. A positively pressured anteroom, for instance, lets staff don PPE in a protected environment. A drawback is that because the anteroom is less pressurized than the isolation room, there’s a risk of infectious particles carrying from the movements of healthcare workers into the patient’s room.  

Further, because the pressure in these specialized rooms has to be so carefully nuanced, maintenance is important. Citing a 2001 long-term assessment of isolation room performance, Nick Clements notes in his blog post that isolation room operating conditions may “shift away from optimal” for a variety of reasons, and operating conditions are “somewhat temporally variable.” A loose air handling unit fan-belt or accidental changes made during maintenance could, he says, result in “sharp changes” in the room pressure.

There are few studies as yet testing the effectiveness of establishing temporary isolation wards during a surge, cautions Clements, who was on the team that established the Bay Area temporary ward. Before including a temporary isolation ward in a hospital surge capacity plan, he advises conducting a (successful) full-scale demonstration to uncover any logistical and engineering issues.

Caring for patients in negative pressure rooms can amplify the usual constraints and stresses for staff. Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, in China, came up with a way to help lessen some of the stress.

By February 2020, the hospital had admitted more than 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 200 suspected cases. It’s not uncommon, clinicians from the hospital report in The Lancet, that medical personnel in negative pressure wards are not fully aware of their exposure while caring for patients. So, the hospital set up an innovative infection-control system called the observing system. Cameras cover the entire ward except for the privacy area. Infection control observers, who are appointed by the hospital’s Department of Infection Control and Nursing and undergo intensive training to become familiar with the requirements for infection control in the negative pressure wards, monitor the wards via computers. 

Their responsibilities include maintaining the normal operation of the isolation wards, supervising the implementation of disinfection, ensuring a sufficient supply of protective materials, arranging specimens for inspection and—not least—they “relieve anxiety of the medical personnel while treating patients.” 

They also watch to make sure healthcare providers don’t omit or overlook steps in putting on or taking off PPE. In one case a patient’s zipper unexpectedly ripped a nurse’s glove. Discovering the situation, the observer “immediately soothed the nurse and sent another staff member into the ward to assist,” assessed the risk for the nurse, and arranged a quarantine room to ensure full safety before the nurse returned to the ward.

The frontline medical staff highly recommend the new system, the authors say. 

Whether caring for a few or thousands of infectious patients, healthcare facilities must be both proactive and flexible. Most recently, Miller and her team have been conducting another pop-up test, this one in a nursing home, depressurizing an entire wing. Given that nursing homes have all along been hotspots of COVID-19, fast, secure response is key. Until we know more about this deadly intruder, protection is the strongest weapon.

 https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/covid-19/covid-19-forced-hospitals-build-negative-pressure-rooms-fast

Under Armour has Mask for Athletes

We reported on two Korean school boys who died while wearing masks in 1000 meter time tests. Some compromise in safety is therefore necessary in mask design for athletes.  The question is whether the right balance can be achieved. One sportswear company believes they have that balance.

Under Armour has released its “Sportsmask,” a face mask marketed toward athletes to help protect from the spread of the coronavirus. However a disclaimer states that is not to protect against viruses. Under Armour has the mask available for preorder on its website and is expected to ship out on or by Aug. 17.

 

The mask comes in four sizes and costs $30. Black is the only color available at the moment, but additional colors will release later in the summer. The product “is a reusable, water-resistant performance face mask designed for maximum breathability by Under Armour's innovation team in record time. This first-of-its-kind mask functions to reduce the spread of respiratory droplets by the wearer.”

The mask features a “unique, three-layer model engineered for athletes during performance,” Under Armour says. The third layer contains “a non-metal anti-microbial technology which inhibits growth of bacteria on the mask,” per Under Armour.

While the product is “intended for daily wear & use in sports by healthy individuals,” Under Armour does note that the mask is a “non-medical & non-surgical mask, does not protect against viruses,” in the product description.

The UA SPORTSMASK is a reusable, water-resistant performance face mask designed for maximum breathability by Under Armour's innovation team in record time. This first-of-its-kind mask functions to reduce the spread of respiratory droplets by the wearer. The top of the mask features a moldable nose-bridge to help secure it in place and mitigate airflow to the eyes, helping to prevent glasses from fogging. It can also be washed and dried, making it more eco-friendly than many single-use, disposable options. 

The UA SPORTSMASK features a unique, three-layer model engineered for athletes during performance:

·         LAYER 1: SPACER FABRIC - It is light but has air pockets for structure, so it stays off the mouth and nose for better airflow.

·         LAYER 2: OPEN-CELL FOAM - The breathable middle layer lets air through but makes it hard for moisture and sweat to pass.

·         LAYER 3: UA ISO-CHILL - This fabric feels cool against the skin, stretches, and is treated with PROTX2™, a non-metal anti-microbial technology which inhibits growth of bacteria on the mask.

PROTX2 has been shown in laboratory tests to destroy COVID-19 and is being reviewed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to confirm the efficacy of the substance as it is applied to the UA SPORTSMASK. Under Armour also has a patent pending on its design and construction of the mask.

The seeds for the UA SPORTSMASK were planted in mid-March, when Under Armour began manufacturing face masks designed by its innovation team and distributing millions of units of personal protective equipment (PPE) to health care and community organizations to help fight the spread of COVID-19. During this process, Under Armour founder Kevin Plank recognized a need for performance solutions that would support athletes navigating the pandemic climate. He called on the innovation team in Baltimore, equipped with their recent mask-making experience, to join him in finding a way forward, and fast.

“As soon as we finalized the design of our face mask for PPE, we dove straight into the innovation process of optimizing a mask for performance," said Kyle Blakely, VP of Materials Innovation at Under Armour. "We knew our athletes would need us to come through quickly with a solve to aid their return to training, one that would put health and safety first and adhere to current CDC guidelines.”

Because of social distancing restrictions, the company went back to its roots during the mask construction phase. Plank’s design and Blakely’s materials were sent to Ella Mae Holmes, an Under Armour seamstress and the company’s third employee who helped develop the brand’s original compression shirt. Holmes got to work sewing mask prototypes out of her Baltimore home. With input and testing from teammates across product development, Under Armour found success in the 13th iteration of the mask.

“Experience told us that fabric and performance had to be our first focus, so we set out to find a fabric combination that created structure to ensure the mask would stand off the face and offer maximum breathability,” added Blakely. “We applied learnings in fit, feel, and ease and speed of manufacturing from the face mask we created for PPE purposes. Throughout it all, the speed of the design process and a meticulous eye to quality and details were paramount.”