a big part of the problem is that our politicians and officials are exhorting us to “live with the virus” without doing the investment necessary for us to do so safely. for those of us who’ve followed the science throughout this pandemic, this has been a frustrating experience. there are engineering innovations that could help us to live more normally and more safely , if only the necessary infrastructure investment were made.
china first warned the world that covid was airborne in early 2020. the west was slower to catch on, but by the end of 2021 scientists everywhere were largely in agreement. public health has been slow to react, and governments slower, after putting all their eggs in the vaccination basket. vaccination was a necessary but not sufficient public health intervention to ease the strain on our hospital system and mitigate the severity of the illness, but does less than we all hoped to minimize transmission.
advertisement
scientists have tested upper-room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (uvgi), where the upper portion of a room is flooded with uv light in a way that doesn’t emit down to the lower portion of the room. uv light can kill viruses in seconds, and exposing only the upper portion of a room prevents people from being exposed. this could be a powerful intervention in places people gather unmasked, such as restaurants or nightclubs.
advertisement