"Found it! Touched the same handrail one after another-the only thing the two infected people have in common."
Recently, Zhu Xiaoping, head of the disease prevention and control expert group of the Sichuan Provincial Health Commission’s response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, declared to the outside that “the 34-year-old staff member of the terminal area of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport who was not out of the province or close contact was infected with Delta virus. The source was found, and after gene sequencing, it was confirmed that the two infected persons had highly homologous virus genes, that is to say, the virus spread caused by touching the same handrail as the previous family of three."
Airports, as one of the places with a large flow of people and one of the necessary places for people from all over the world to travel around, also face the difficulty of epidemic prevention. After multiple experimental data verification, ultraviolet disinfection of the new crown virus is already a feasible method. Due to the characteristics of automatic escalators, currently domestic airports mainly introduce UVC-LED solutions.
It is understood that the current current plan is mainly to install a hollow-out box with built-in UVC-LED light source, install it inside the left and right sides of the escalator or moving walkway, and keep the distance between the light-emitting surface of the device and the surface of the handrail. Nearly 15 mm, the built-in UVC-LED is basically harmless to the human body after irradiating the surface of the handrail, it can destroy the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecular structure in the cells of pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. In order to make it dead or unable to replicate and multiply the principle, it has the function of sterilization and disinfection, realizing real-time sterilization and disinfection of the escalator handrails, which can reduce the risk of virus cross-infection.
According to incomplete statistics of UVLED wind direction, there are already no less than 5 airports using UVC-LED solutions!
As early as June 2021, Hohhot Airport completed the escalator handrail disinfection device in accordance with the requirements of the group company's "Notice on Promoting Escalator Disinfection Devices in Member Airports". The escalator handrails of Hohhot Airport changed from regular disinfection to real-time disinfection.
In August, Beijing Daxing Airport and Taiwan Taoji Company also chose to equip with ultraviolet sterilization device, which will be activated as long as the handrail is running, so that passengers can feel more at ease when using the handrail.
Foreign countries such as Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska, USA and James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg, Canada have adopted Seoul's Violeds technology escalator handrail sterilization solution.
The escalator infection at Chengdu Tianfu International Airport did alert the management of domestic public places. In daily life, escalators have become a common means of transportation in public places in modern cities. At present, the rubber material of escalator handrails is very absorbent and easy to attach. Germs, there is a risk of cross infection if multiple people touch it. Combined with the current epidemic prevention form, the UVC-LED sterilization program on escalators will be a trend for some time in the future.
Summary: The introduction of UVC-LED into the escalator, on the one hand, uses the safety of UVC-LED and its small size and long life. It can be installed on the side of the escalator or embedded in the gap.
On the other hand, the UVC-LED lighting technology used in the device is efficient and environmentally friendly. It uses the UVC band with outstanding sterilization effect to irradiate the handrails at close range, and disinfects the handrails in a purely physical sterilization manner to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses. Chemical or heavy metal residues, and can realize the normalized cycle disinfection of the handrail when the escalator is running.
