Airborne infectious diseases have been a major worldwide concern for many years. The sudden and fast spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-Cov-2), causing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a pandemic form, has intensified the necessity of constant environmental disinfection. Among the possible technologies that can be used for air disinfection, there is ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), using ultraviolet C (UVC) light.
The UVGI-80 Air Sterilizer is a device designed for air disinfection using high-intensity germicidal lamps, a method that can be used for safe disinfection of environments where health professionals, patients, students, and people in public places are exposed to contagious risk factors. The aim of this study was to validate the efficacy of the UVGI-80 Air Sterilizer to deactivate viruses such as coronavirus in different environmental conditions.
The results showed that the device was effective in the neutralization of airborne particles containing coronavirus, presenting > 99.99% inactivation rate already after 1 minute of operation, showing that it can be an important tool to avoid the spread of different airborne infections, as well as reducing the level of contamination inside different public spaces and healthcare establishments.
