COVID restrictions may be a thing of the past, but there is still a lot of work to be done to get public confidence, and our businesses, back to pre-pandemic prosperity. Here, David Mitchell, head of business development and marketing at OXONOX, reveals how his company's patented cold plasma technology can help.
We have been living restriction-free in the UK for a while now, with lockdowns and mask wearing becoming a distant memory. However, despite relaxed social distancing rules, many people are still very anxious about mixing in public, particularly in small, enclosed spaces - and rightly so.
COVID-19 has not disappeared, and other seasonal viruses, like norovirus and influenza, are on the rise again. From high-traffic touchpoints to shared communal environments, the risk of transmission remains a constant threat.
For many, the thought of beathing in germs from a fellow passenger when in a busy lift, and using escalators, where thousands of people have touched the handrails, are two large areas of concern. It seems that this anxiety is still taking its toll on some of the nation’s most important industries, with retail and travel footfall still well below pre-pandemic levels. Office occupancy is also down, with many businesses struggling to convince workers to return.
So how do we restore public confidence in post-pandemic hygiene, and help these sectors thrive once again?
Confidence in hygiene
Over the past two years, the hygiene market has been flooded with products that claim to kill over 99.99% of bacteria. Of course, in controlled laboratory conditions, many of these products do, as do ours. But how do they stack up outside of the lab?
In the real world, up against numerous variables, many of these efficacy percentages drop significantly, rendering the products ineffective. Very few also provide any residual protection for lifts and escalators, leaving treated surfaces open to immediate reinfection as soon as a user coughs or sneezes. What businesses need is a product that provides continuous, effective long-term protection against contamination.
Here at OXONOX we have developed two revolutionary products for the lift and escalator market to do exactly this. Our AirLift and AirStair continual sterilisation products boast the world’s first use of controlled plasma technology – widely acknowledged as the next step up in performance, safety and cost over UV light – and have a germicidal kill rate significantly higher than traditional methods.
Based on independent testing, OXONOX AirLift and AirStair both reduce substantially the microbiological load by up to 90+% [1], reducing risk of infection transmission in lifts, and on escalator handrails. In addition to these clear health benefits, AirLift and AirStair also provide continuous protection every minute of the day.
OXONOX AirLift
OXONOX AirLift significantly reduces the risk of infection transmission in lifts, providing round-the-clock protection against bacteria and viruses by continually diluting the cabin with ultra-cleansed air.
AirLift uses controlled plasma technology to fill the enclosed area with totally germ-free air at a rate of 92 cubic metres, or roughly 20-30 air changes, per hour. The innovative process reduces the microbiological load in the lift space by over 90% according to independent testing.
OXONOX AirStair
Designed for escalators and moving walkways, AirStair sits underneath the escalator, automatically and constantly sterilising handrails. It works all day, every day by directing controlled plasma onto the handrail, killing germs continually with each revolution. The high-energy bioactive plasma particles permeate and penetrate surfaces for complete coverage, reaching places that disinfectants and UV light cannot. Most importantly, if a handrail was to be infected during the day, the affected area would be treated by plasma, reducing the microbiological load and, hence, the risk, in the very next revolution. This reduces the risk of anyone else being infected by the handrail, and, most importantly, helps stop what could be insignificant loads of infection from proliferating into loads large enough to be infectious, making the situation even worse.
The future of sterilisation
Although we are living in challenging times, businesses need to do all they can to ensure their colleagues and visitors feel safe when on their premises. This can only be achieved by investing in the very latest hygiene technology.
[1] Independent effectiveness testing conducted by ALS Global, www.alsglobal.com.
www.oxonox.com