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.

Athletes have Lingering Health Issues Due to COVID

Biox has Antiviral Coating for Interior and Exterior Surfaces

Link Between Air Quality and COVID Transmission

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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. 

#PPE #innovation #TogetherImprovingLife #InThisTogether

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:

1. Patient A comes in cabin 1 while the 2nd Operator sanitizes cabin 2.
2. The 1st Operator provides guidance to patient A on how to position himself and how the test will be performed.
3. Once the 2nd Operator has finished the manual sanitization, the air ventilation starts in "high speed" mode to quickly remove the sanitizing agent from the cabin.
4. The 1st Operator performs the two swabs, sanitizes them (externally) and places the collected samples in the safe "liner" side removal system. At the same time, the waste is placed in the waste liner.
5. Patient A leaves cabin 1 and the 1st Operator (still positioned outside the cabin) safely picks up the samples using the liner system.

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 Pro is a highly engineered coating that incorporates a powerful antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal additive. The additive is EPA registered and used worldwide in the healthcare, food, textile industries among others. BioX Pro has paired this powerful antimicrobial to a blend of strong halogenated polymers that bonds to most interior and exterior surfaces. Once dry, it can be observed readily as a non-toxic, non-staining, thin film that remains on the surface of items. BioX Pro's protective qualities stay active for up to 90 days as compared to other commonly used aerosols and disinfectants which may last only a few days. Further, extensive testing has gone on to prove effect treatment of its active component against many viruses, bacteria, and mold, most notably, it is effective at destroying coronaviruses. One gallon of BioX Pro may be used to cover up to 4000 sq. ft of surfaces, a more active version is expected to be available soon.

BioX Pro can be applied via spot treatment on high touch areas or more generally applied through janitorial or custodial services via hand pump sprayer, pressurized spray bottle, or electrostatic sprayer. It can be applied to porous, semi-porous, and non-porous surfaces such as fabric, upholstery, leather, wood, drywall, concrete, ceiling tiles, marble, grout/ceramic tiles, plastic, and glass.

Hugo Lozano, CEO of BioX Group states: "We've tested BioX Pro on many of the surfaces commonly found at transportation centers and the results are undeniable: not only does BioX Pro kill bacteria and destroys viruses, it adheres to those types of surfaces for months, staying in an active state of protection."

BioX Pro and its proactive coating will be a critical component in maintaining the health and safety at airports, train stations, and other mass transit locations. From trays to counters, from armrests to doorknobs and handrails, all surfaces can be safe to the touch of the general public.  BioX Pro will play a key role for these public places staying virus and bacteria free by applying it on high touch areas such as restroom doors, elevator buttons, gate/platform furniture, and countertops. Users will be able to open doors, go up or down escalators or rest their hands without concern.

Hugo Lozano, continues: "BioX Pro, if applied to all surfaces in the cabin of an airplane, train, or bus, could encourage folks to feel safer while traveling. Further, keeping airport terminals and train stations virus and bacteria free is the logical extension of the safety net BioX Pro is specifically designed to create. Envision a surface that stays virus free and makes the travel experience feel safe again."

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

Measuring air quality across London could help fight COVID-19 by providing a rapid means of deciding whether to reduce public transport movement – given strong links between exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 transmission, a new study reveals.

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 (PM_2.5) 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 PM_2.5 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 PM_2.5 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 PM_2.5 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.”