Abhishek Gupta, Director, OxyGarden elaborates on the importance of clean breathing air which can be achieved with installation of air sanitisers in hospitals as it would reduce chances of COVID-19 infection
If people are asked to name a clean building, there is a good chance they would think of a hospital. But, is that so? Everybody knows that when there are many ill people packed into a small area, diseases are bound to spread. This is precisely what happens in hospitals, where, sick people, go to be treated? There is a chance that while people are cured of one disease in a hospital, they contract another. Without meaning to sound alarmist, that is the world the COVID-19 has unleashed. More than COVID-19’s fatality rate, it is how infectious the virus is that makes it so deadly. Marco-Felipe King, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Leeds, revealed how even a well-ventilated hospital room could harbour plenty of germs and viruses since one out of every 15 admitted patients in the UK contracts a disease while at the hospital. For the safety of patients and visitors, hospitals must have air sanitisers.
A historical precedence
In the 19th century, an open-air regimen for the treatment of viruses was well appreciated. This included drugs along with plenty of fresh air. Hospitals were ventilated so patients could enjoy the fresh air. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was added as a layer on all equipment to de-contaminate patient’s rooms. Later, the installation of Ultraviolet C (UVC) light also helped hospitals disinfect their environment as UVC can disinfect in minutes.
How air sanitisers lower infection rates
When society is sanitising everything to protect itself from deadly viruses, then why not sanitise the air people breathe? Studies have proven that poor air quality leads to a significant increase in COVID deaths. So, it’s essential to sanitise the air to be safe from these viruses. Also, according to medical experts, natural oxygen-enriched air is needed in medical settings when patients are battling COVID-19. So, one way to be safe from COVID-19 is by being in an oxygen-rich environment where there is plenty of fresh air. This is all the more reason for hospitals to install air sanitisers. As lockdowns are lifted, there will be many more people in hospitals. Undoubtedly many who visit hospitals will be infected with COVID-19. Should the air quality in the hospital be poor, such people will infect many others. This highlights the urgent need for air sanitisers in hospitals.
Relative humidity plays a crucial role in the transmission of viruses such as influenza and coronavirus. Evidence of this can be gauged from the seasonality of these viruses. Since the level of relative humidity is low during the winters, it makes indoor air drier which increases the rate of infection of these diseases. Many scientific studies advise maintaining a relative humidity (RH) between 40–60 per cent, which is the optimal range to inhibit the growth of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Air sanitisers are ideal for preventing the spread of COVID-19 because they lower humidity, which drastically lowers the possibility of infection.
In hospitals where the air is sanitised, people will be less likely to be infected by COVID-19. Conversely, in hospitals where there are no air sanitisers, a single infected patient may infect hundreds or thousands. This is not hyperbole; there are cases almost every other day of just one infected person passing on this deadly virus to everyone living close by.
COVID-19 – Last infectious virus?
Over the past 20 years, more than five highly infectious diseases spread in the world and cost many lives. COVID-19 will not be the last infection disease humanity will fight. There will be more contagious diseases like COVID-19 in the future which is all the more reason for hospitals and clinics to have air sanitisers in their premises. No expert thinks COVID-19 is the last pandemic and having beaten it; humanity will be out of the woods. On the contrary, the COVID-19 is likely the first significant virus in modern times that impacted the whole world. It will certainly not be the last.