By Charles Tang, Zoe Huang, Vivi Cheng
Air filtrations can help remove airborne COVID-19 in the hospital, found by researchers at the University of Cambridge.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, people wear masks and keep social distance to prevent viruses. Also, many brands of vaccines were invented to help people get rid of viruses. Since viruses are mainly transmitted through air, both people and objects are prone to exposure to the coronavirus. People wear masks, wash hands, and disinfect the environment to make sure that they are not infected with the virus.
In the study, researchers placed portable air filtration and ultraviolet (UV) sterilization devices in two units, Covid ward and a Covid Intensive Care Unit (ICU), in Addenbrooke’s Hospital and detected the coronavirus. There were patients infected with COVID-19 in those units. Researchers put the machines in fixed positions and made them consistently work for a week. These air filtrations filtered the air in units five to ten times per hour.
When the air filtration is inactive, coronavirus can be detected. However, scientists were not able to detect the coronavirus in the air after the machines started working lasting for two days. Once the machines were turned off, they noticed that the coronavirus existed in the air of units again. Thus, researchers confirmed that air filtration can significantly reduce levels of bacteria and viruses in the experiment. The amount of coronavirus in both units was reduced because of the operation of air filtrations.
“Reducing airborne transmission of the coronavirus is extremely important for the safety of both patients and staff,” said Vilas Navapurkar, the researcher of the study.
People use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as social distancing and disinfection to keep the virus away. The finding explores the possibility of removing the coronavirus through the air filtration rather than just relying on PPE. If scientists are able to put this technique to practical use, people might get rid of the coronavirus and go back to life before the pandemic.
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