As a fourth wave of Covid looms and more myths about the virus are debunked, one company is putting its money where its mouth — and nose — are.
Joburg-based 3Sixty Biopharmaceuticals has bought the Africa distribution rights for a device developed by Nasa to clean the air in spacecraft and improve the lifespan of food in space.
CEO Walter Mbatha says of the Airocide purifier: "We know that it can actually eliminate the airborne transmission of [the coronavirus] and all other air pathogens."
One of SA’s leading vaccinologists, Shabir Madhi, does not endorse Airocide but is a proponent of good ventilation.
Vaccination remains the primary way to reduce death and severe illness caused by Covid, says Madhi, dean of the faculty of health sciences and professor of vaccinology at Wits University.
Good air circulation is the key to reducing virus transmission, he says, so avoid crowded indoor spaces and ensure efficient ventilation. "It’s about circulation of air, rather than some magic extractor of viruses."
The first business to install an Airocide device in SA was Bottega, an Italian restaurant in Parkhurst, Joburg, which did so in October.
Owner Franca Cardillo-Millar says: "We are trying to do everything to help customers and staff have a safe working environment."
Cardillo-Millar’s restaurant has been battered by curfews and alcohol restrictions. She is worried about a possible December lockdown if a fourth wave hits.
The Airocide uses ultraviolet light and other technology. According to one laboratory study in the US, the device killed 99% of coronaviruses in five minutes.
Despite mounting evidence that the coronavirus is not spread by contact with contaminated surfaces, in SA much focus is still placed on sanitising hands and surfaces, and businesses continue to spend on this. Pick n Pay, in its half-year financial report to end-August, said its Covid-related sanitising and hygiene costs for the period amounted to about R150m.
Early theories about the virus suggested that it was spread by large respiratory droplets that don’t travel very far, are heavy and quickly fall to the ground, which led to the emphasis on disinfecting surfaces and maintaining physical distancing.
But the knowledge that the virus is airborne and that it can remain floating in the air for hours has changed how we need to deal with it.
An article in The Lancet in April explained how Covid protocols needed to change to match the evolving science.
If an infectious virus spreads predominantly through large respiratory droplets that fall quickly, it said, "then the key measures are reducing direct contact, cleaning surfaces, physical barriers, physical distancing, use of masks within droplet distance, respiratory hygiene, and wearing high-grade protection only for so-called aerosol-generating health-care procedures".
Precautions could be the same indoors and outdoors "since a gravity-driven mechanism for transmission would be similar for both settings".
But if the coronavirus was airborne — something the World Health Organisation took months to acknowledge — then indoor ventilation was more important.
The article said other measures recommended for indoor spaces included air filtration, avoiding crowding, reducing the amount of time spent in such spaces, wearing masks, attention to mask quality and fit, and higher-grade protection for health-care staff and frontline workers.
Many businesses are turning to better ventilation systems. Famous Brands, the owner of franchises Mugg & Bean, Turn ’n Tender and Vovo Telo, says it has noticed an increase in outdoor dining. But some restaurants don’t have outdoor space.
The importance of good ventilation was highlighted in a study presented by University of Cape Town researches at the Union World Conference on Lung Health in October. The study showed that tuberculosis is not primarily spread by coughing, as has long been believed, but by ordinary breathing.
Airocide Africa, the company selling the air purifier, is marketing the product to hospitals, restaurants and other businesses.
But for all of us, just opening windows could save lives.
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