Zero infection for 777 Team China

Published on: Sunday, August 22, 2021

By: Kan Yaw Chong

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Part of the 777-strong Team China.

HAVE you heard this groundbreaking report? The use of an unseen to defeat a deadly unseen!

The result is stunning – zero infection among a 777 Team China upon return from the July 23-August 8, 2021 Tokyo Olympics!

The exciting result prompted one commentator to predict “doomsday for the Coronavirus is near” and put to bed all the scare mongering!

So it looks like game over for the Coronavirus which has terrorised and bankrupted the world over the last 20 months

The secret weapon credited?

An ultraviolet Filtered Far-UVC tech device which can inactivate 99.9pc of the Covid-19 in three seconds – jointly developed by 115-year-old Fudan University Shanghai, Columbia University United States and LumenLabs – a Shanghai-based sanitation solution enterprise!

The idea now is to popularise its civilian use in public venues with high population density, commercial centres, transportation hubs, hospitals, schools etc.

“Looks like doomsday for Coronavirus is near!” a woman commentator cheered in a Mandarin video clip forwarded to me by a friend.

Why not, if indeed the virus has finally met its match and vanquished!

But far too brief and sketchy to build a Special Report out of the Mandarin narration, I googled to fact check and verify.

Yes, indeed, I found a nicely written article by Zhou WenTing entitled “UV device helped keep Team China safe from coronavirus at Tokyo Olympics” published in China Daily August 16, 2021.

Device emits 222 UVC wavelengths that kills 99.9pc of virus in 3 seconds

Here are some technical but easy details reported in the China Daily:

“Resembling a mini electric fan, an ultraviolet disinfection device that is able to achieve 99.9pc sterilisation, including killing Covid-19 virus in three seconds, helped keep Team China free of infection at the Tokyo Olympic Games.”

“More than 200 of the devices played their role in providing the safe environment for the athletes, coaches and other workers, in their exercise venues, walkways as well as the athletes” bedrooms.

“The device uses short-wavelength ultraviolet light technology which can emit 222-nanometer wavelengths that is absorbed by the novel coronavirus.

“As a result the helical (coiled, curled) structural link of the ribonucleic acid of the virus is destroyed and the virus loses its ability to replicate but harmless to the human body,” explained Wu Fan, Vice-Dean of Fudan University’s Shanghai Medical College.

‘Thorny problem’ of conventional Ultraviolet-B radiation ‘conquered’: Wu Fan

The question is: Is it safe?

Wu Fan says the technology has “actually conquered a thorny problem” associated with conventional UV disinfection machines which could not co-exist working with people real time one at the same time.

The “thorny problem” is Ultraviolet B (UV-B) radiation from 290 to 320 nanometer wavelengths, is readily absorbed by our DNA and also can change the shape of molecules of the skin.

“But this device conquers that thorny problem,” Wu Fan noted.

“As the short wave-length of 222 nanometers won’t penetrate human skin and eyes, it is harmless to the human body and can work when people are around,” assured Wu, who is also director of the Shanghai Municipal Institute of Major Infectious Diseases and Biosafety.

Wu added: “People cannot feel anything when the device is in operation and it does not generate any harmful substances or chemical residues.”

A tribute to Fudan Uni Shanghai – Columbia Uni collaboration

But being fair and square about its pole position in the latest development, Shanghai-based Sanitation solution enterprise Lumenlabs, acknowledged the joint breakthrough:

“Supported by leading industry experts from Columbia University and Fudan University, Lumenlabs has taken a lead in developing national industry standards for UVC safety and efficacy.

“We are proud to have Columbia University’s Dr David Brenner as a collaborator here at Lumenlabs.

“Dr Brenner is known as the Father of Far-UVC. At Columbia University’s Center for Radiological Research he has dedicated much of his work in recent years to research on Far-UVC safety and efficacy and has published multiple papers in Nature-Scientific reports.

“In applying his ground-breaking research on Far-UVC light, Lumenlabs’ products are effective at safely destroying pathogens such as viruses and bacteria in everyday spaces while people are present.”

Gold standard Filtered Far-UVC dosage harmless to DNA, skin, eyes

“Filtered Far-UVC is a ground-breaking safe disinfection technology for humans,” Lumenlabs asserts.

“The revolutionary ground breaking part is Filtered Far – UVC and humans can now co-exist.

“When the Filtered Far-UVC device is switched on, the days when nobody must be around is history.

“Through extensive scientific research by joining forces with Columbia University and Fudan University to ensure proven safety and efficiency of Filtered Far-UVC disinfection technology, the Filtered Far-UVC dosages are meeting national and international standard (3mJ/cm2) and doesn’t penetrate skin and cornea (eye) or absorbed by DNA, ensuring the safety of occupied space disinfection.”

Safety in UV technology is very important so it’s no surprise Lumenlabs take great pains in asserting its Filtered Far-UVC technology is a breakthrough.

Hazards of conventional UV disinfectors long known

Actually we in the Daily Express are aware that doctors and health authorities know that the effectiveness of conventional UV disinfection is not new.

For example, Paul Tambyan, President of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Mircrobiology and Infection says:

“UV disinfection is widely used in hospitals worldwide after patients have left a room. This is used for antimicrobial resistant pathogens, tuberculosis and other infectious agents. UV disinfection is effective but needs to be used with care as the light ca cause cancer.”

Most likely Tambyan is talking about UV-B radiation.

That’s the “thorny problem” Wu Fan was referring to – the conventional UV-B technology hazardous to humans.

But after the outbreak of Covid-19 in late December 2019, China came down very hard on everybody in cracking down and eradicating the virus.

Crushing pressure to defeat Coronavirus forced hunt for answer

This crushing pressure mounted on everybody must have forced companies like Lumenlabs to turn to a groundbreaking technology to meet the strict prevention measures against the virus, which eventually killed 4,636 out of 94,472 infected and 87,908 recovered.

Before this Filtered Far-UVC tech device came to the scene, China was already using probably the only ultraviolet light of the UV-B wavelengths known then to beam through public buses and lifts to wipe out the possible germs as part of the effort to clear the country of the deadly Covid-19 epidemic.

Conventional UV disinfectors for Shanghai buses found impractical

For example, Yanggao, a Shanghai public transport firm converted a regular cleaning room into a UV light disinfection chamber equipped with 210 UV rubes for buses – cutting a 40-minute process to just five minutes, saving manpower and overtime but the downside was everybody must vacate the chamber before UV tubes are activated.

But still for a massive bus company like Yanggao which has 1,000 buses, even two conventional UV chambers could disinfect only 250 buses a day, not really practical for disinfecting the entire public transportation systems of a massive city like Shanghai.

Chinese companies had no choice but actively search for a more efficient disinfection method away from the conventional UV technology and apparently the Lumenlabs’ development of the Filtered Far-UVC is a product of that active search.

The ultimate goal – Venues with high population density

The devices, which are able to kill the Covid-19 viruses at temperatures above 4C, have reportedly been immediately deployed in schools, commercial centres, hospitals in Zhenzhou, Henan province, to provide doctors and nurses with a safer environment in the fight against the novel coronavirus, according to a Fudan University report.

“Our ultimate goal is that the equipment will be popularised for civil use. The machine will show its advantage in public venues with high population density, such as medical institutions, nursing homes for the elderly, transportation hubs and commercial centres,” Wu Fan noted.

“Traditional ultraviolet light disinfectors used in medical institutions can only operate when nobody is around, while this technology allows the new devices to work continuously in high risk venues, such as fever clinics.

“The only limitation is that the new device is that it cannot disinfect places where light cannot reach, such as the back of an object,” she added.