Given the current outbreak (click here) of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, consumers may be interested in purchasing ultraviolet-C (UVC) lamps to disinfect surfaces in the home or similar spaces. The FDA is providing answers to consumers’ questions about the use of these lamps for disinfection during the COVID-19 pandemic....
Ultraviolet light is about disinfecting surfaces and areas that are exposed to it. There is a second issue.
Canada's Thanksgiving Holiday is October 11. So, they have suffered irresponsible behavior already.
Canada's staring down a Covid surge that has been blamed on social gatherings. And as Americans contemplate their holiday plans, Canadians are desperately trying to save Christmas.
LinK: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/22/us-canada-thanksgiving-lesson-438898
The reality of this virus does not go away because it is a holiday. There are issues with "indoor air" as well as air in trains where the ventilation is not necessarily state of the art. Everyone is waiting for this to go away rather than accepting the problems before them and worked to correct the infrastructure.
Herd immunity by exposure is NOT a humane answer. Currently, in the USA more than 2 percent of those infected dies. That is not acceptable.
The suppression of this virus has been grossly mismanaged. It is time to stop this hideous idea of "dealing with COVID-19" means "waiting it out." Now, is the time to correct the deficits in the infrastructure and make it permanent. Permanent changes mean reassurance to people that the business is serious about their wellness today and into the future. If funding is necessary to make permanent changes to ventilation and processes to end virus on countertops, etc. then the Small Business Administration needs to come up with policies that work including lobbying the US Congress to bring about permanent changes that will solve the problems of failing small businesses and loss of jobs.
The problem with Indoor Air
This is a study early on out of China, but, it spells out perfectly the problem with indoor air.
...COVID-19 has a high transmission risk (click here) among train passengers, but this risk shows significant differences with co-travel time and seat location. During disease outbreaks, when traveling on public transportation in confined spaces such as trains, measures should be taken to reduce the risk of transmission, including increasing seat distance, reducing passenger density, and use of personal hygiene protection....
Masks, social distancing, and hand hygiene work exceptionally well except with indoor air. There is a problem with indoor air in that it is not freely circulating and not having air exchanges rapid enough to KEEP A LOW VIRAL LOAD.
There has to be someone conducting research somewhere in the world to solve these problems. THE AIR CIRCULATING IN A RESTAURANT MUST BE EXPOSED TO UV LIGHT BEFORE IT IS REINTRODUCED INTO THE RESTAURANT AIR. That capacity for a restaurant has to be perfected. It should not be all that difficult to conduct such a study.
To be clear. Indoor air can be safe by wearing masks, but, if those masked customers are exposed to any viral load their risks increase with every breath by the person(s) infected with SARS-CoV-2. The best mask in the world will not be effective if there is a massive viral load in that room. The only way to eliminate that danger is to have a ventilation system that provides comfort to customers as well as PROCESSING the air with high enough air exchanges through a UV light device before returning the air into the room.
The equation to this dilemma is VIRAL LOAD X TIME OF EXPOSURE. The only answer is AIR MANAGEMENT to REMOVE the virus in the restaurant air as it moves through a ventilation system designed to kill the virus. It is possible. It needs investigation and study to know the form in which the NEW INFRASTRUCTURE FOR RESTAURANTS takes shape.
Restaurant customers can't wear masks while eating. The air that fills those rooms of customers has to be free of any virus.
The research does not have to be conducted with SARS-CoV-2. Any coronavirus (like the common cold) contaminated air to run through a UV light ventilation system to be sure the air at the end of it's processing exhibits no virus.
Indoor air in restaurants is a very difficult problem. It is different for gymnasiums which have larger volumes of air that can be contaminated by people playing basketball. That gym still needs adequate ventilation and AIR PROCESSING to be safe, but, the large high ceilings provide answers to VIRAL LOAD differently than restaurants.
There are very fine people involved in developing excellent experiences in their restaurants. They have a tough problem before them, but, there are answers. Heck, commission MIT, they can probably solve it overnight. Infrastructure needs to be changed and once there is a proven answer, funding will be needed. The restaurant businesses have depleted resources to restart, yet alone, change a restaurants' air quality.
Good luck.
Add a UV sterilization process to air circulation. If BART can solve their problems, the restaurant industry should as well.
The air you breathe (click here) while riding BART is filtered more effectively than that in the typical office or indoor setting like a grocery store or pharmacy, with an entire train car’s air being replaced about every 70 seconds.
That was the case before the Covid-19 pandemic, and it’s even more important now, as BART implements a 15-step Welcome Back Plan with a raft of new health and safety measures....
