In its most-recent Corona profile, the Robert Koch Institute has confirmed the dissemination of the virus via aerosols in the indoor air that we breathe[1]. To reduce this risk of infection in nurseries, Trotec has developed the innovative high-frequency TAC V+ air purifier to filter infectious aerosols (tiny saliva particles) from indoor air. According to scientists and virologists, aerosols are one of the main sources of infection with the coronavirus. If, on the other hand, the air in the room is constantly and effectively “washed”, the risk of infection via aerosols released when speaking or coughing is significantly reduced.
[1] Robert-Koch-Institut, SARS-CoV-2 Steckbrief zur Coronavirus-Krankheit (COVD-19), Last viewed: 15 May 2020
It all happened so quickly! After the long weeks during which only parents in system-relevant professions could take their kids to emergency nurseries, many nurseries and after-school care centres are now switching back to limited regular operation. But it’s too soon, say both the heads of nurseries and teachers themselves. They rightly criticise the lack of support from district councils and local authorities. Many teachers worry about their health when dealing with the little ones. There is no effective protocol for pedagogical staff to protect against infection with the coronavirus.
Teachers are supposed to work unprotected, with children separated into groups.
To ensure that facial expressions and gestures are not impaired during care and so as to avoid disturbing children, many nursery managers are urging staff not to wear masks. They also argue that it is not possible to maintain social distancing in nurseries and day care centres, as children need to be close and “also need to be given a hug”, NRW Family Minister Joachim Stamp claimed on local radio. Visors which have been proposed as an alternative are out of the question, however. There is so much open space at the bottom and sides that droplets and aerosols (tiny saliva droplets) are only deflected but not held back. Furthermore, the existing lack of personnel is additionally strained by the new corona regulations. Teachers are to remain in fixed groups, with the groups physically separated from each other. For this reason, many facilities are taking preventative measures by reducing opening hours by an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. Whether this will help, however, remains to be seen! If employees cannot work due to illness, the house of cards making up these separate groups will quickly collapse.
It is therefore only too understandable that many teachers see themselves as “buffers for a misguided policy”. What is recommended by, and implemented at, the Federal Ministry of Health apparently does not apply to the work done in nurseries: namely, maximum protection against infection.
Protection for children “and” teachers is possible: it has been developed by Trotec.
If we’re to have an idea of just how efficient social distancing, face masks and hand washing are as protective measures, we need to first consider the various transmission paths. Only about 10 per cent of corona infections are transmitted via direct contact. Half of all infections, however, are due to the inhalation of infectious aerosols that float invisibly in the air in closed rooms.
Looking at the situation in light of the facts listed here, it’s clear that teachers are exposed to a comparatively low risk by kids frolicking, sitting on their laps or having a fit of the tickles. A much higher risk is to be found in the indoor air. If just one child in the group is infected with the coronavirus, they emit more than a thousand infectious aerosols into the air simply when speaking[2].
Aerosols – An invisible danger of infection in the very air we breathe
When we breathe, speak or cough, we not only emit large, visible droplets into the room in a kind of “drizzle”, but also, to a much greater extent, tiny aerosols. While the large droplets sink to the ground after only about 1.5 metres due to their weight (this is the reason for the social distancing rule of 1.5 metres), infectious aerosols measuring only a thousandth of a millimetre actually remain in the air “for several hours”. As such, measures such as social distancing, smaller and spatially separated groups, and indeed more frequent hand washing do not, by themselves, protect against transmission of the virus. Aerosols released when speaking spread invisibly through air in circulation indoors and are consequently inhaled. As such, the aim must be to prevent them from circulating in the air of all play groups as much as possible. And this is achieved by the combined use of a TAC V+ air purifier.
For virus-free indoor air in nurseries and care facilities: the TAC V+ air purifier
With the new TAC V+ air cleaner, Trotec has developed a globally unique indoor air purifier with HEPA air purifying technology. The TAC V+ circulates and cleans the air in closed rooms just as effectively as it would otherwise only do in hygiene-sensitive clean room environments and hospital operating rooms. This is made possible by the high grade air performance of the air purifier and a new type of HEPA high-performance filter with a filter efficiency of 99.995%. In this way, a group room can consistently be kept virtually virus- and germ-free “regardless of the number of children.”
What sounds very technical in theory, proves to be extremely uncomplicated in practice. Indoor air is sucked in near the floor, cleaned of bacteria and viruses by the HEPA filter and then released back into the room as germ-free clean air. No installation or complicated connections necessary. Simply plug in and immediately ensure maximum possible protection against infection! The unit was designed in such a way that it poses no danger whatsoever to children playing. The unit is stable and the air intake opening is fitted with a close-meshed protective grille to protect against curious children’s fingers.
Optimum protection for educational staff and children
Social distancing, a reduction in the number of children in groups as well as increased cleaning and disinfection procedures – taken by themselves, these are all sensible measures! But they do not offer any protection against infectious aerosols, as these sometimes rise up to several metres into the air like smoke and only after hours do they slowly and widely sink to the ground.
The risk of children or teachers becoming infected with the coronavirus via indoor air if all safety and hygiene measures are observed is reduced to almost zero by using a TAC V+ air purifier with virus filter! The TAC V+ mobile air purifier creates clean and virus-filtered “clean air areas” wherever it is placed.
More cannot, and less should not, be done for protection:
- Compliance with all requirements and hygiene regulations (reduction of groups, spatial separation of groups, disinfection measures etc.)
- Air cleaning to reduce the aerogenic risk of infection via the air
Interesting facts about the H14-HEPA high performance filter with a transmittance of ≤ 0.005%
Thanks to their first-class filter efficiency and innovative performance characteristics, the H14 virus filters specially developed by Trotec for the TAC V+ and TES 200 air purifiers are quite impressive. With a permeability of only 0.005% and a separation efficiency of 99.995%, they offer 10 times the separation efficiency of conventional H13 filters. Thanks to these first-class properties, H14 high-performance filters are even used in operating theatres for clean air production and in comparably hygiene-sensitive areas. These are the most efficient criteria for the protection of children and caregivers from the risk of infection in times of rampant epidemics.
All the H14 high-performance filters offered by Trotec meet the highest quality requirements which are obligatory for filtering bacteria and viruses:
- Each H14 high-performance filter is individually tested and given its own serial number.
- The test report is enclosed with each H14 filter in duplicate as a certificate.
- The original test certificate can be filed away and a copy attached to the air purification device when required.
- H14-HEPA high performance filters are tested according to EN 1822 and EN 60335-2-69.
The TAC V+, which is now available for purchase or hire, was developed and tested in a Heinsberg study.
Trotec has set up a special advice centre for youth welfare offices and support organisations to answer all their questions about infection protection:
Trotec GmbH
Jochem Weingartz
Telephone: +49 2452 962-137
jochem.weingartz@trotec.com
[1] Robert-Koch-Institut, SARS-CoV-2 Steckbrief zur Coronavirus-Krankheit (COVD-19), Last viewed: 15 May 2020
[3] Study published by the “National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)” in the scientific journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America” (PNAS)
