It is common knowledge the viral and bacterial pathogens that cause allergies, illness and disease are transmitted between humans mainly when we touch infectious surfaces and then put our fingers in our mouths or when we inhale infectious airborne particles. This has been the accepted norm for many years and every year we see outbreaks of common viral illnesses such as ‘flu and common colds yet we dont taken serious risk mitigation measures against the transmission of these illnesses perhaps because we have a vaccine for ‘flu and the common cold is not usually deadly.
This is not the case when we see deadly new viral infections emerge such as AIDS, Ebola, SARS and MERS which are accompanied by frenzied efforts to isolate and treat infected persons and prevent further spread along with efforts to quickly develop vaccines and/or symptom reducing treatments. A common feature of these viruses is that infected and contagious people present with clear and obvious symptoms allowing them to be easily identified and segregated which has assisted our mitigation efforts and explains why only 774 people died from SARS in the 2003 outbreak for example.
Health authorities around the world have known for many years that one of the most serious threats posed by a deadly new virus is if contagious people do not show symptoms and are asymptomatic because this means they will continue to mix with others and spread the virus. This is exactly what we saw when COVID-19 emerged in early 2020 and explains why we saw a very rapid spread of infections to all countries around the world.
Since early 2020 the various COVID-19 mitigation measures have included lockdown, mask wearing, social distancing, regular washing of hands, recommended increases in ventilation/outdoor air change rates, arbitrary use of passive filters and track and trace programs and few months on from then the rate of growth in cases and deaths appeared to have slowed yet we continued to see outbreaks despite the measures having been followed. As of August 2020 there is growing concern that the looming northern hemisphere 2020/21 winter could see a significant second waves in many countries.
The key missing feature of the measures is the real time and continuous deactivation of the virus the moment it is emitted from an infectious person into the air or touched onto a surface anywhere in any indoor/vehicle space. If this capability could be achieved without being dependent on the actions of people it would establish the most effective COVID-19 transmission risk reduction beyond the current measures. Given how this virus transmits and the fact that people are contagious without showing any symptoms such a capability is now a practical necessity if we ever hope to move away from permanent mask wearing and economically damaging distancing measures and if we want to rebuild public confidence in our indoor spaces and environments. In other words and in summary until we find a way to stealthily stop COVID-19 transmission these serious and permanent mitigation measures will be with us permanently as will the drag on our economies.
The Better Indoors active air purification technology from RGF Environmental offers a unique solution to this problem. It is capable of destroying viral, bacterial and other organic transmissions instantly and continuously no matter where in the indoor air and surface space they are emitted or touched and is not reliant on the actions of people. Unlike HEPA filters, UV-C or PCO systems which are all passive and cannot treat the virus until it is inside the unit or close to the light source and offer nothing for surface contaminations, the technology works in every cubic cm of air and surface space simultaneously and continuously. This means someone can cough out the virus in one part of the room and touch the virus onto a surface in another part of the room and the air itself is deactivating the virus instantly. Only this active approach can reduce transmission risk this effectively. All other approaches allow considerable risk to remain because the virus can stay in the air for long periods/permanently and will live on surfaces until the next cleaning.
Contact us to learn more about how our technology works, why it trumps all other air purification technologies and how we can reduce COVID-19 transmission risk most effectively in your home or business.
