Evidence by expert Professor Mike Toole AM, epidemologist and technical advisor Know-C19 Hub in Australia and Board member of the School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine of Burnet Institute, Monash University, Victoria, Australia:
- “A guest who was infected opened their door and with the positive pressure this kind of fog of virus went out into the corridor travelled down and infected hotel staff.”
Credit and source is BBC Radio 4 Today programme 12th February 2021
And repeated in a BBC News article 12th February 2021 which highlighted concerns about transmission of COVID-19 between quarantine rooms resulting from guests opening doors at the same time:
- “There is no guidance on the timing of meal deliveries, potentially leading to cross-infections between guests as room doors are opened at the same time”
With UK Government InnovateUK funding we designed a solution for the NHS and another for hotels/quarantine areas where the spread of infectious diseases is a major concern.
Using ultrasonic technology with advanced mathematics we can define the air flow rate and air permeability rate associated with the external surfaces of a room or hospital ward, as well as pinpoint exact leak-sites in a room. (We believe we are the first company in the world to be able to do this ultrasonically!)
- WHAT IT DOES: Portascanner® COVID-19 is capable of detecting leak-sites, quantifying leaks, air flow rates and air permeability ultrasonically. We designed it originally in June 2020 for negatively-pressurised NHS hospital wards in mind.|
- IDEAL SOLUTION: Portascanner® COVID-19 automatically compares the air permeability to the standard maximum value of 2.5 m³/(h·m²) at 50 Pa required for negative pressurisation to take place reliably. It operates non-invasively and non-disruptively, unlike existing tests used in the building industry which are simply too costs and disruptive (requiring all people to vacate the room being tested for example) to be used in a hospital or hotel setting.
Portascanner® COVID-19 locates leaks in hospital wards, quantifies the leaks in regard to their cross-sectional area and calculates the air flow rate through them. This generates an air permeability value for an entire ICU Ward which the user can compare against the required value for negative pressurisation.
