Growing Scientific based evidence of Surface and Air Transmission of Coronavirus

As the battle goes on to protect society and our communities from the dangers of Covid19, the latest scientific research on the survivability of the Coronavirus both in the air and on surfaces is key to our understanding of what it's going to take to 'win'. It also explains to an extent why the situation is worsening as the second wave takes hold.

New research conducted by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia points to Covid19 survival on certain surfaces....glass and steel for example...at least 28 days in cooler climates. As we head into winter, this is not good news but important to know also. Much of previous research suggested 48 - 72 HOURS!

"At 20 degrees Celsius, which is about room temperature, we found that the virus was extremely robust, surviving for 28 days on smooth surfaces such as glass" said Dr Debbie Eagles, Deputy Director at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness.

In regard to airborne transmission, inline with the rapid rise in COVID-19 illnesses and deaths globally, airborne transmission has always featured prominently as a key route of transmission for this highly infectious disease. Inhaling small airborne droplets is largely seen by scientists as a third route of infection, in addition to more widely recognized transmission via larger airborne/respiratory droplets and of course, direct contact with infected people or contaminated surfaces. The Centre for Disease Control in the U.S. suggest 'existing evidence is sufficiently strong to warrant engineering controls to target airborne transmission as part of an overall strategy to limit infection risk indoors'.

Quoting directly from the latest CDC report...

"There are several well-documented examples in which SARS-CoV-2 appears to have been transmitted over long distances or times. These transmission events appear uncommon and have typically involved the presence of an infectious person producing respiratory droplets for an extended time (>30 minutes to multiple hours) in an enclosed space. Enough virus was present in the space to cause infections in people who were more than 6 feet away or who passed through that space soon after the infectious person had left. Circumstances under which airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 appears to have occurred include:

• Enclosed spaces within which an infectious person either exposed susceptible people at the same time or to which susceptible people were exposed shortly after the infectious person had left the space.
• Prolonged exposure to respiratory particles, often generated with expiratory exertion (e.g., shouting, singing, exercising) that increased the concentration of suspended respiratory droplets in the air space.
• Inadequate ventilation or air handling that allowed a build-up of suspended small respiratory droplets and particles".

When we at CW Applied Technology set out to develop and manufacture an 'engineering solution', our Room UV Steriliser, our focus was on both air and surface sterilisation. Not because we had greater insight than the scientists mentioned above at that time but rather because those are classic routes of transmission...how long the virus survived in the air and on surfaces was open to question but there was no doubt that it did survive in both. Identifying a proven method of inactivation ('killing' in non-scientific terms), avoiding adding to the problem with side-effects of a chosen solution and accepting that, in the absence of a vaccine, there is going to be no 'silver-bullet' solution, provide reassurance with an effective solution were our 3 motivating forces. The feedback from our customers (examples of which were given directly to the journalist who profiled us in last Sundays Business Post https://www.businesspost.ie/25586c11 ) indicates we have been successful on all fronts. One of the examples quoted in the article is particularly telling I think...

For Millstreet Boys National School in Co Cork, it had a case recently but its measures, which involved using the MUV-X, alleviated any potential fears parents, staff or students may have had.

The primary school, which has around 100 students, sanitises each room every week and toilets twice a day.

“There’s an extra reassurance that you’re doing everything you can and you’re hitting everything that couldn’t be reached,” said its principal Frank O’Connor.

“In our letter that we had to send out to parents about the case, we could say we have UV-C in place so that’s reassuring for parents.”

Another plus was the absence of chemicals needed to carry out said tasks as O’Connor didn’t want to expose students to them in case there were any negative effects.

If you are concerned by the growing evidence of both surface and airborne transmission of this virus (and with the soaring second wave, who can doubt it) and want a reliable 'weapon' with long proven effectiveness against all virus and bacteria, then give us a call (+353876871295 and/or [email protected]). With all our customers to-date saying they are happy to talk to anyone regarding the reassurance our Muv-X has brought to their staff and customers/visitors, we are not short of independent voices to back up our claims!