COVID-19 Air Transmission Threat Can Be Averted

According to a Health24 COVID editorial published this morning there is growing empirical evidence that the air transmission of SARS-Cov-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is the primary cause of the spread of the dreaded virus.

If that is the case then any enclosed building that is mechanically ventilated (from HVAC to split air conditioning systems) is a real cause for concern irrespective of whether it be a shopping centre, hypermarket, supermarket, university, corporate head office, air port, frail care centre, hospital, even the waiting room of a doctor/dentist.

Why?

The same air is continuously being re-circulated 24/7 by the ventilation system either cooling or heating the building.

The air in an closed building/office/ward/etc is sucked into the ‘return air ducts’ of the ventilation system by exhaust fans – the air then passes over coils (which have either been heated or cooled by a compressor) – and then travels via internal ducting back into the environment from whence it was drawn. Some sort of air filtration takes place via filters that are in place to capture debris and small air particulate matter but air de-contamination rarely takes place.

One of the few reliable, proven and scientifically tested methods to disinfect the coils of the HVAC as well as the air inside the ducting BEFORE it re-enters the building is to have the air pass over ultraviolet lamps that decontaminate air stream (with the coils being separately decontaminated).

UV science has developed to the stage (via reputable UV manufacturers) to the point where any air contaminant be it an odour, virus, mould, yeast, spore, pathogenic microorganism can be eliminated by 99,9% with appropriate UV technology.

Other factors such as UV lamp intensity, time dwell, size of ducting, type of material of the ducting, etc also figure in the perfect design solution – there is no one size fits all – every HVAC system has a different challenge with an appropriate solution.

Polar Africa, in association with Sanuvox the global leader in air disinfection UV technology, is on standby to assist with any HVAC system upgrade as well as offices/shops/etc  that make use of split air conditioning systems or even an open window for cross ventilation … go to https://polarafrica.co.za/product-application-dashboard/#.YEm9hrQza8o for further information.