Coronavirus Technology Solutions
August 26, 2021

Honeywell Develops Filter Coating to Kill COVID

Honeywell has UHMWPE Fiber Patent

Hydrophobic Air Filter Captures Virus in Droplets

Australian Schools Need HEPA Filters to Deal with the Wildfire/COVID Combination

Precision ADM Acquires Canadian Meltblown Producer

Precision Textiles Expanding in North Carolina

Airlines Requiring High Efficiency Masks

Vaccine Protection Wanes Within Six Months, U.K. Researchers Find

Oregon Imposing Mask Mandate in Populated Outdoor Settings

Orange County Florida School District Requiring Masks Despite State Edict

Honeywell Reports Banner 2^nd Quarter

COVID Deaths Surge in Africa

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Honeywell Develops Filter Coating to Kill COVID 

Darius Adamczyk, chief executive of the international company, revealed that that the company was developing an air filter coating that would kill up to 98 per cent of novel coronavirus and was expected to be ready by the end of September at the earliest.

Adamczyk said in an interview that the chemical coating needs to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Honeywell is seeking Texas and North Carolina as partners to help speed up the process.

He said the coating could replace the heating and air-conditioning filters currently used in schools and commercial buildings, avoiding expensive upgrades to these systems to handle more intensive filtering.

Since the outbreak, Honeywell has increased production of personal protective equipment such as N95 masks and developed new products, including systems that automatically take body temperature when people enter buildings and robots that disinfect aircraft with ultraviolet rays.

Honeywell is seeking to have the filter coating ready by the end of the quarter and has conducted independent laboratory tests showing that the product is between 97% and 98% effective in eliminating the virus. Adamczyk said the product, developed by materials scientists in Honeywell's UOP division, could easily reach a market size of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Honeywell has UHMWPE Fiber Patent


Patent No. 11,066,765 covers processes for preparing ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, and the fibers and articles produced therefrom. Exposed surfaces of the fibers are subjected to a treatment that enhances the surface energy at the fiber surfaces. Such treated surfaces are subsequently coated with a protective coating immediately after the treatment to increase the shelf life of the treatment. The coating comprises at least one poly(alkyl-oxide) polymer.

Inventors: Henry Gerard Ardiff (Chesterfield, Virginia), Ralf Klein (Midlothian, Virginia), John Armstrong Young (Midlothian, Virginia), Thomas Tam (Chesterfield, Virginia)
Assignee: Honeywell International (Charlotte, North Carolina)
July 20, 2021

Hydrophobic Air Filter Captures Virus in Droplets

A nanocoating for the filters used in heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems can capture and kill SARS-Cov-2 and could prove to be useful tool in the fight against the human coronavirus pandemic. The inventor of the coating, is Curran Biotech founder Seamus Curran.

The human coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic has had a profound impact across the globe this year, but few places have been hit harder than New York City in the USA. According to the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, nearly 18,000 people there died with covid-19 in March, April and May. In the summer, after a stringent lockdown, the city started to open-up again as some control was wrestled over the spread of the virus and precautions now familiar to many of us were adopted—the wearing of face coverings and the practice of social distancing, for instance. And in one of the courthouses in the city, these measures are being augmented with a small modification to the building’s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) system that enables it to strip the SARS-Cov-2 virus responsible for the pandemic from the air.

The air filters in the HVAC system have been treated with a hydrophobic, water-based nanocoating that enables them to capture airborne or aerosolized droplets of liquid containing SARS-Cov-2. According to its developer, Curran Biotech of Houston, Texas, USA,  the coating is inexpensive, easy to apply and does not inhibit the flow of air through the filters.

Australian Schools Need HEPA Filters to Deal with the Wildfire/COVID Combination

Even before the last of the 2019–20 Black Summer smoke dissipated, another deadly reminder of the importance of access to safe air arrived. COVID forced many to take a crash course in how to avoid respiratory viruses.

One of the most effective ways to reduce indoor COVID transmission is to open windows. Maximizing outdoor air coming inside, known as the air exchange rate, is a good way to reduce transmission risk.

But opening windows during the bushfire season can let toxic smoke in, changing the risk calculation.

Keeping windows closed and re-circulating air through standard aircon systems can cool the air but doesn’t remove smoke or viruses.

So how can schools reduce exposure to COVID and bushfire smoke simultaneously?

This dilemma has a solution which can be implemented immediately. A$50 million would provide all NSW primary and secondary school classrooms, and other shared spaces within schools, with High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) grade air purifiers.

This initial outlay pales compared to the roughly A$220 million-a-day cost of Sydney’s lockdown.

The added benefit of installing air purifiers with HEPA filters is they can help reduce the risk of asthma attacks too.

Precision ADM Acquires Canadian Meltblown Producer

Precision ADM Inc., a global medical device and engineering and manufacturing solutions provider, announced that it has acquired Roswell Downhole Technologies Inc. (Roswell DHT), the first and largest Canadian manufacturer of meltblown fabric for medical filtration applications.

Together, Precision ADM and Roswell DHT will manufacture Canada’s first supply of 100% compostable nonwoven fabrics using sustainably sourced biopolymers for use in personal protective equipment (PPE) production domestically and for export to global manufacturers.

“As a company, we have responded to Covid-19 by developing and manufacturing the highest quality and most cost-effective medical equipment in our country’s time of need,” says Martin Petrak, chief executive officer of Precision ADM. “By coming together with Roswell DHT to develop cutting-edge, 100% compostable medical PPE such as masks and respirators, we will better serve Canada and emerge even stronger beyond the pandemic while reducing our carbon footprint and reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout our product life cycle.”

“Precision ADM has a horizon of projects that are complimented by Roswell’s nonwoven technologies, specifically the compostable media that we have been developing over the last year,” says Kyle Fiolka, president of Roswell DHT. “This synergy will further strengthen and support our shared vision for innovation and pave the way in building a fully integrated, secure, domestic, and most importantly green supply chain for PPE.”

By October 2021, the two companies will be operating a high-volume, automation-driven, nonwoven manufacturing plant in Calgary, Alberta, and scaling up a manufacturing plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba. These plants will produce a full suite of compostable surgical medical masks, gowns, and other necessary medical PPE, air and water filtration products, and personal hygiene products.

The investment will create up to 350 high paid net new direct jobs in the Prairie region and will have the capacity to supply compostable, nonwoven fabric for other domestic and international manufacturers, representing a net new economic export impact of approximately $2 billion within the next 10 years.

Precision Textiles Expanding in North Carolina

To better serve its customer base in the high-growth mattress industry, Precision Textiles has signed a lease for a new 160,000-square-foot, 25-acre campus at 163 Glen Road in Troy, NC. The new plant is expected to be operational by Sept. 1 and will employ 100, all from the local area.

The facility – once a textiles production plant that serviced the automobile industry – is Precision Textiles’ first domestic manufacturing facility outside its New Jersey headquarters. It will double the manufacturer’s needlepunch nonwovens production and boost its high-loft quilting fiber output by 50%. In addition to its production capacity, the facility includes warehousing space. The workforce at the facility will include new employees as well as some experienced staff from the textiles company that previously operated the plant.

“Demand for these products has risen to the point where we are near full capacity at our home facility in New Jersey,” says Scott Tesser, chief executive officer of Precision Textiles. “In addition to keeping pace with current demand, this investment positions us for future growth as we continue to expand our customer base in the bedding and automotive industries.

“This new factory will enable us to better meet the needs of our customers throughout the nation and logistically helps us reduce transit time to those located across the Southeast. It will also give us more capacity to better serve both existing and new customers,” Tesser adds. “The plant previously had a nice history in textiles manufacturing, so it provided us with a head start in terms of equipment and experienced employees.” 

Airlines Requiring High Efficiency Masks

As COVID-19 cases start to rise in certain areas, some major airlines have now begun banning fabric face coverings onboard.

Finnair is the latest airline to ban fabric face coverings from its flights. Any passengers looking to travel with the airline must wear “surgical masks, FFP2 or FFP3 respirator masks without a valve or other valve-free masks with the same standard (N95),” according to a tweet by the airline.

The safety of our customers and employees is our first priority. Fabric masks are slightly less efficient at protecting people from infection than surgical masks," Finnair said in a statement.

Finnair joins an increasing number of airlines that have begun banning fabric face masks onboard, including Air France and Lufthansa.

“It is mandatory to wear a surgical mask or an FFP1, FFP2, or FFP3 type mask, without an exhaust valve, on board,” wrote Air France in a statement. Cloth mask is also listed under “unauthorized masks” along with “masks with exhaust valves.”

Vaccine Protection Wanes Within Six Months, U.K. Researchers Find 

Protection against the coronavirus from two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines starts to fade within six months, highlighting the necessity of booster shots, researchers in Britain say.

The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine at preventing covid-19 fell from 88 percent one month after taking the second shot to 74 percent after five to six months, according to an analysis of data collected in Britain’s Zoe Covid study, the Reuters news agency reported. For the AstraZeneca vaccine, effectiveness fell from 77 percent to 67 percent after four to five months.

The updated analysis was based on data from more than 1 million app users from Dec. 8, 2020, to July 31, 2021, comparing self-reported infections in vaccinated participants with cases in an unvaccinated control group.

“It’s bringing into focus the need for some action,” Tim Spector, Zoe co-founder and principal investigator for the study, told the BBC. “We can’t just sit by and see the protectiveness slowly waning whilst cases are still high and the chance of infection still high, as well.”

Under a worst-case scenario, protection could fall below 50 percent for older people and health-care workers by winter, Spector said.

Britain and other European countries are planning a vaccine booster campaign this year.

Oregon Imposing Mask Mandate in Populated Outdoor Settings

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced Tuesday that she is imposing a statewide outdoor mask mandate regardless of vaccination status.

"The Delta variant is spreading fast and wide, throwing our state into a level of crisis we have not yet seen in the pandemic," the Democratic governor said in a statement. "Cases and hospitalizations are at a record high. Masks are a quick and simple tool we can immediately deploy to protect ourselves and our families, and quickly help stop further spread of COVID-19."

The mandate will take effect on Friday Aug. 27 and masks will be required in the majority of public outdoor settings regardless of vaccination status.

"Under the Governor’s direction, the OHA rule will require masks for all individuals — regardless of vaccination status — in outdoor settings in which individuals from different households are unable to consistently maintain physical distance," the governor’s office said. "The rule does not apply to fleeting encounters, such as two individuals walking by one another on a trail or in a park. While the rule does not apply to outdoor gatherings at private residences, masks are strongly recommended in those settings when individuals from different households do not consistently maintain physical distance."

Orange County Florida School District Requiring Masks Despite State Edict

At a school board meeting Tuesday night, Orange County Florida Superintendent Barbara Jenkins said the district would implement a stronger mask mandate.

The new rule will apply to all students and staff, it will start Monday and will remain in effect for 60 days.

"Numbers at 19 percent means you're probably not going to get over it in 30 days and so I lean toward saying a universal mask for the next 60 days through Oct. 30," Superintendent Barbara Jenkins explained

The decision removes an "opt-out" policy for parents who do not want their children to wear masks in school. Medical exemptions, however, can still be made.

The district's original "opt-out" plan was put in place to adhere with an executive order put forth by Gov. Ron DeSantis, prohibiting schools from mandating universal face-covering rules.

Several other districts across the state, including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Hillsborough, have gone ahead with plans which go against the governor's rule.

The new mandate was decided on after hours of debate amongst school board members which followed passionate pleas during the public comment portion of the meeting as well.

The board did not take a formal vote on the issue, but instead came to a consensus on what the superintendent should carry out.

Jenkins ultimately proposed the new rule's parameters and promised some members skeptical over the timeline of it that if case numbers fall sharply, the rule could also change quickly.

"I pray that they do," Jenkins said.

Currently, the district has confirmed more than 2,300 cases so far in the new school year -- of which, about 1,800 are students.

Board members also discussed the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the state over the governor's order or joining an existing lawsuit.

Honeywell Reports Banner 2^nd Quarter

Second quarter results were driven by sales and segment margin growth in all four businesses. The company also raised its full-year sales, segment margin, adjusted earnings per share, and cash flow guidance. “Building on our first-quarter momentum, we executed extremely well in the second quarter. Our results were driven by top-line growth and margin expansion in all four segments.

Organic sales grew 15%, led by double digit growth in Performance Materials and Technologies, Honeywell Building Technologies, and Safety and Productivity Solutions,” said Darius Adamczyk, chairman and chief executive officer of Honeywell. “Our increased volumes, streamlined cost base, and relentless focus on execution enabled us to expand segment margin by 190 basis points to 20.4%, exceeding the high end of our guidance by 10 basis points. As a result, we delivered adjusted earnings per share1 of $2.02, up 60% year over year and above the high end of our second-quarter guidance range.

“Our cash performance in the second quarter was strong, as we generated $1.5 billion of free cash flow with adjusted conversion2 of 103%, all while repurchasing $1.0 billion in Honeywell shares.” Adamczyk continued, “Our strong performance in the second quarter took place in a recovering but challenging global environment. We are especially pleased to see a turnaround in several of our key end markets that were hardest hit by the pandemic, with commercial aerospace aftermarket and the UOP business returning to growth in the quarter. We are well positioned to capitalize on improving conditions as they unfold around the world and to execute on near-term growth opportunities across our portfolio, including in the warehouse automation, productivity, building products, and advanced materials markets."

As a result of the company’s second-quarter performance and management’s outlook for the remainder of the year, Honeywell raised its full-year sales, adjusted earnings per share, and cash flow guidance and raised the midpoint of its segment margin guidance. Full-year sales are now expected to be in the range of $34.6 billion to $35.2 billion with organic sales growth in the range of 4% to 6%. Segment margin is expected to be in the range of

COVID Deaths Surge in Africa

Coronavirus deaths in Africa rose rapidly over the past month, as fatalities surged by 80 percent the World Health Organization has said.

WHO's Vaccine Introduction Officer for the African Region, Phionah Atuhebwe, told CNN that the continent was witnessing an unprecedented rise in coronavirus fatalities.

"COVID-19 death rates have increased across Africa, with the highest weekly rate (6,343) to date reported during the week starting 19 July 2021," said Atuhebwe.

"Deaths increased by 89%, from 13,242 to 24,987, in the last 28 days, when compared against statistics for the previous 28 days," she added.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference Friday that the pandemic's worsening death toll and rapid infection rate are "being driven by the highly transmissible Delta variant," which is considered to be more deadly than the original strain of coronavirus.

Ghebreyesus said the Delta variant — so far "detected in at least 132 countries" — has also spiked Covid-19 infections globally by 80 percent within the past four weeks.