Coronavirus Technology Solutions
November 4, 2020

New U.S. Cases Rise to 90,000 Per Day

The Market for HVAC Filters and Masks is Substantially Impacted by Air Pollution Levels

Royal Caribbean Installing MERV 13 Filters and Increasing ACH to 12

Fulton County Georgia Installs MERV 13 Filters

Nuwave Air Purifier Tested for Virus Removal Efficiency by the University of Minnesota

Dyson Ventilator is Bed Mounted with Batteries for Portability

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New U.S. Cases Rise to 90,000 Per Day

The US recorded 91,530 new Covid-19 infections on the day many Americans cast their ballots, adding to a series of staggering case numbers reported within just the past week.

The country's five highest days of coronavirus cases have all been recorded since October 29, affirming experts' warnings another surge is well underway and will only get worse.

The nationwide seven-day average of new daily cases now stands at about 86,363 - more than double what it was on September 4, data from Johns Hopkins University show.

As of Tuesday, at least 36 states reported more new cases in the last week versus the week prior, Johns Hopkins data show. And six states - Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania - reported their highest one-day Covid-19 case count Tuesday.

Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, North Dakota and New Mexico all reported record high hospitalizations this week, the Associated Press reported. Nebraska's largest hospitals started limiting elective surgeries and looked to bring in nurses from other states to cope with the surge. Hospital officials in Iowa and Missouri warned bed capacity could soon be overwhelmed.

Though these surges are concentrated largely in the Midwest and Upper Midwest, troubling signs are also emerging in the Northeast, The New York Times reported.

A second wave of infections has started to surface in states that had brought the virus under control last spring. Connecticut has been averaging over 800 new cases per day, approaching its April peak of over 1,000, the newspaper said. Maine is well above its May peak with a seven-day average of 88 new cases per day as of Tuesday, when the state set a record with 127 new cases, the Times reported. Rhode Island, with fewer people than Maine, has been averaging over 400 new cases per day, well above its spring peak.

In Massachusetts, additional restrictions on businesses and public gatherings have gone into effect to fight rising coronavirus infections, the Times reported.

In New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has ordered that incoming travelers from non-neighboring states must be tested for the coronavirus before and after entry. Those from New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Pennsylvania will be exempt, as will essential workers. The requirement took effect on Wednesday, the Times reported.

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx warned Monday that the pandemic is entering a new and "deadly" phase and the United States needs to adopt a more aggressive approach to curbing its spread.

The warning, expressed in a private memo to White House officials, was a direct contradiction to President Donald Trump's repeated claims that the pandemic is "rounding the corner," the Washington Post reported.

Birx's memo painted a grim picture: "Cases are rapidly rising in nearly 30 percent of all USA counties, the highest number of county hotspots we have seen with this pandemic," it said. "Half of the United States is in the red or orange zone for cases despite flat or declining testing."

The memo went further and suggested that Trump and his advisers were spending too much time focusing on preventing lockdowns and not enough time on controlling the virus.

"We are entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic," Birx wrote. "This is not about lockdowns — it hasn't been about lockdowns since March or April. It's about an aggressive balanced approach that is not being implemented."

The Market for HVAC Filters and Masks is Substantially Impacted by Air Pollution Levels

The U.S EPA Air Quality Index is used throughout the world to measure air pollution levels. 

Many consultants are recommending greater use of outside air to reduce the virus load. This means the HVAC filters are treating higher percentages of dusty air. Many filters are changed based on the increase in pressure drop which in turn is a function of the dust in the air. In areas of high air pollution or wildfires the ambient air can contain ten times as much dust as clean air. 

This is less of a problem when you use inefficient filters. Much of the ambient particulate will be sub-micron and pass through a MERV 8 filter but if a MERV 16 filter has been installed due to the coronavirus, then the life of the filter could be greatly reduced.

Vogmask has issued  an approximate guide to the optimum life of a mask at various AQI levels.

The U.S. averages an AQI of 37 but in areas impacted by wildfire the level can rise to unhealthy.  In one period in September everyone living between Vancouver and Tijuana experienced high levels. According to AirNow.gov, the air quality in Portland and Seattle was very unhealthy," with the two cities recording one Saturday morning AQI values of  293 and 219, respectively. Most regions in the San Francisco Bay Area saw AQI values between 175 and 185, and Los Angeles recorded an AQI of 157.

In 2019 many countries averaged high AQI .  Here are the top 30 countries

Royal Caribbean Installing MERV 13 Filters and Increasing ACH to 12

Royal Caribbean says its HVAC system continuously supplies 100% fresh, filtered air from outdoors to all indoor spaces.

The air is drawn from one side of the ship for cooling and ventilation, then removed via exhaust on the opposite side of the ship.

This continual intake of fresh air replaces the air in any space, with a total air change up to 12 times an hour in staterooms, and about 15 changes an hour in large public spaces.

In local spaces, like smaller venues and  staterooms, fan coil units provide an extra layer of protection, continuously scrubbing the air of pathogens, using a high-grade MERV 13 filter that captures aerosols 0.3 to 1 micron in size with 90% efficacy— fine enough to filter colds, flu germs, and coronavirus.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/sites/default/files/blog-images/1464097539_sbw-hn-2440.JPG?itok=qqiJYrBF

Royal Caribbean had an independent assessment conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

A bioaerosol assessment was done on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.

This study involved releasing billions of 1µ aerosol-sized microspheres, each containing uniquely DNA barcoded inert virus surrogate, throughout the ship at certain pre-selected spaces (i.e., crew cabins, guest staterooms, and adjacent public spaces including the casino, Studio-B & Disco/Lounge) to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the vessel’s indoor air management strategies, as well as to understand the spread of the aerosols through the HVAC system and in between the adjacent private and public spaces.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center study found that to clear the virus droplets from the air in about an hour, they needed to use an HVAC system that changed the air in the room at least 6 times or more and used a filter with a MERV rating of 13.

This study confirmed that cross-contamination of air between adjacent public spaces is extremely low, and undetectable in most test cases, thanks to this powerful system.

In addition to the study conducted, as well as the new policies announced by the cruise line, the Healthy Sail Panel came up with seven important things Royal Caribbean can do to manage indoor air and keep it clean.

1. Enhance filtration – The Panel recommends that HVAC filters be upgraded to the highest level possible for each ship given the constraints of ship age and ventilation type (e.g., MERV 8 to MERV 13)
2. Optimize airflow patterns – For example, the Panel recommends that cruise operators optimize airflow so that air is not recirculated; should air recirculation exist, given the HVAC system design, then the recirculated air must be filtered through a high-grade filter (i.e., MERV 13 or higher).
3. Use negative pressurization – The Panel recommends that cruise operators ensure that SARSCoV-2 isolation rooms are consistently at negative pressure. This means that cruise operators should ensure that there is sufficient negative pressure that will not be affected by doors opening and closing or people walking by. This should be optimized given the constraints of ship age and ventilation type.
4. Minimize unfiltered, recirculated air – Cruise operators should provide air exhausted to the outside and maximize air changes per hour and filtration of air in staterooms, crew rooms, and public areas.
5. Increase number of air changes per hour in certain areas – The Panel recommends that cruise operators pay special attention to areas where individuals would be most vulnerable to airborne transmission, and that they should prioritize increasing the number of air changes per hour in those areas. More specifically, isolation rooms in medical facilities on board should have 6-12 air changes per hour, be at a negative pressure to the adjacent area, and have 100% air exhausted to the outside.
6. Use portable HEPA filters (or other proven air cleaning systems) in congregate areas, as needed – Portable HEPA units have been shown to help reduce the level of airborne particles. This technology or other technologies that reduce the risk of airborne infection transmission may be used to augment other air management strategies.
7. Maximize outdoor functions and physical distancing – The Panel recommends an overall emphasis on reducing indoor functions whenever possible, given that dilution is most achievable in outdoor settings. Further, cruise operators should ensure that guests understand that air management strategies do not negate the importance of following physical distancing protocols.

Fulton County Georgia Installs MERV 13 Filters

The Fulton County School System says it is installing hospital-grade filters in its schools’ heating and air conditioning systems to fight the airborne spread of the coronavirus.

FCS has installed the filters in six of its 11 Sandy Springs schools and expects to have them in all facilities in November, according to FSC spokesperson Shumuriel Ratliff..

FSC returned to optional in-person classes Oct. 14. Since then, it has already had to close two high schools due to COVID-19 diagnoses, though there is no information about how those students or staff members got infected.

Asked why the filters were not installed before the Oct. 14 reopening, FCS’s Facilities Services Department cited supply issues.

“We are committed to updating all filters as quickly as possible,” the department said in a written statement provided by Ratliff. “Filter material is limited due to the worldwide demand on MERV 13 filters as a result of COVID, and we are replacing the filters as they become available.”

The filter selection was based on the following information which is optimistic. MERV 13 filter is at least 85% efficient at removing particles that are 1 to 3 micrometers in size, according to ASHRAE’s website. A coronavirus by itself is smaller than that and could get through such a filter, but it typically is spread through the air when it is exhaled by people within saliva droplets that are around 1 micrometer, according to ASHRAE. That means the filters could capture most of the particles that could spread the pandemic through the air.

Nuwave Air Purifier Tested for Virus Removal Efficiency by the University of Minnesota

NuWave's OxyPure Air Purifier

NuWave said that an independent study conducted by the University of Minnesota Department of Mechanical Engineering has found that the company’s OxyPure Air Purifier reduces porcine respiratory coronavirus concentration in the air.

While recirculating air purifier units have been proven to remove dust, allergens, and pet dander from indoor spaces, NuWave sought to test OxyPure’s effectiveness against viruses, specifically porcine respiratory coronavirus, a known proxy for other coronaviruses (including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19).

“The University of Minnesota has a long history of developing techniques to measure and monitor particle concentrations in the air, such as aerosols in the ambient air in indoor environments. UMN focuses their efforts on understanding the role particles play in influencing atmospheric chemistry, air quality, and developing techniques to remove pollutant particles from the air we breathe, including indoor environments,” said James Moon, general manager, NuWave.

Chris Hogan, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota, said, “The research focus of my lab group is the testing of control technology to remove pollutant particles specifically including infectious particles with viable viruses in them from the air that we breathe.”

Hogan added, “On the OxyPure unit, we got an overall removal efficiency of 98% in our testing. The OxypPure unit can get a removal efficiency of 98% because it uses multiple control technologies in it. First, the airflow passes through an electrostatic precipitator, a device designed to first ionize particles, so that they’ll move in an electric field. Following the electrostatic precipitator, a high-efficiency particulate air filter is integrated with an activated carbon filter for particle removal; these two technologies together in the OxyPure unit are extremely efficient in combination and removing particles.”

The test, according to the company, proved that a single pass removed 98.24% of the PRCV concentration at a volumetric flow rate of 70 cubic feet per minute CFM (fan speed level at 1). Chris Hogan, and his team, were able to calculate that, in just under six hours, this would yield a 99.999% reduction of the virus in a 1,200 square foot room at a volumetric flow rate of 350 cubic feet per minute CFM (fan speed level at 6).

The OxyPure air purifier’s advanced filter system is designed to capture microscopic airborne particles as small as 0.09 microns and features a five-stage filter system. The air cleaner is available for $699 on NuWave’s website, Amazon and retailers nationwide.

Dyson Ventilator is Bed Mounted with Batteries for Portability

Ventilators are often used for coronavirus patients who are in an advanced stage of danger. The UK government ordered 10,000 of the Dyson ventilators, which meet clinician-led specifications, to be donated by the company.

Hospitals are the frontline in the war against COVID-19, where heroic doctors, nurses, and care workers are battling to save lives and help people recover from this terrible virus,” said Dyson founder and CEO Sir James Dyson.

“As with any battle, there are many challenges to overcome, not least the availability of essential equipment which in this case means ventilators. A ventilator supports a patient who is no longer able to maintain their own airways but sadly there is currently a significant shortage, both in the UK and other countries around the world.”

He added that CoVent can be manufactured quickly, efficiently and at volume—designed to address the specific clinical needs of Covid-19 patients and at a variety of clinical settings.

The device is bed mounted and portable, operating on batteries. This enables it to be used in different care settings including field hospitals, and when patients are transported. The user interface is safe for, and familiar to use by, health care providers.

CoVent is powered by the Dyson digital motor, which has been specially re-engineered by Dyson to meet the requirements of the ventilator. The fan units are available in very high volume. It conserves oxygen using a rebreathe circuit and uses Dyson’s air purifier expertise which delivers high-quality filtration in high-volume products.

“The Dyson digital motor sits at the heart of the new device and the motor’s design is optimized to have a very high level of intrinsic safety, making it particularly well-suited for industrial, high-volume production,” Sir James Dyson said. “The device is designed to achieve a high-quality air supply to ensure its safety and effectiveness, drawing on our air purifier expertise which delivers high-quality filtration in high-volume products.”