Japanese scientists may have discovered a viable method to kill COVID infection

Overview

• Post By : Kumar Jeetendra


• Source: Agencies


• Date: 27 Aug,2020

Researchers at Japan on August 26 said low concentrations of ozone may neutralise particles of the coronavirus. This is being regarded as a potential method for hospitals to disinfect test rooms and waiting areas.

Researchers at the Fujita Health University informed a news conference they had demonstrated that ozone gas in concentrations of 0.05 to 0.1 parts per million (ppm) can kill the virus. These amounts considered harmless to humans. Ozone is a form of oxygen molecule that’s proven to inactivate many pathogens.

They used an ozone generator in a sealed chamber using a sample of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. The experiment showed that the virus’ effectiveness had decreased by over 90 percent when subjected to low-level ozone for 10 hours.

“Transmission of this novel coronavirus might be lowered by continuous, low-concentration ozone therapy, even in environments where individuals are present, with this sort of method,” lead writer Takayuki Murata said. “We found this to be especially powerful in high-humidity problems.”

Another study in the Georgia Institute of Technology had lately demonstrated that ozone might succeed in health-related protective equipment.

The statement comes at a time once the global COVID-19 tally has spanned 2.41 crore, including 8.24 lakh deaths.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to get Abbott’s 15-minute COVID-19 test. The product, named BinaxNOW, is geared toward eliminating the need for laboratory tests and so boosting the country’s capability to conduct more tests.

The United States is the most-affected nation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has listed over 5 million recognized cases of COVID-19 and almost 1,80,000 people have died.