As of this week the first hotels are allowed to open again! However, distance rules and strict hygiene requirements apply to all hotels to protect employees and guests from infection. The fear of the coronavirus is so great that even after the reopening many beds as well as seminar and conference rooms will remain empty. The situation is further aggravated by the fact that regulations vary from state to state. Hotels in Hamburg are only allowed to rent out 60 per cent of their rooms. Lower Saxony “allows” just 50 per cent. These regulations are supplemented by rules on social distancing, compulsory masks and increased disinfection measures. Far from rosy prospects for the already troubled hotel and restaurant industry.
Beds need not stay empty! There are strategies for maximum protection against infection.
In the context of the discussion on relaxing restrictions, a cap on passenger numbers in air traffic was also on the table. The international airline association IATA, however, successfully opposed the proposal to keep the middle seats in airplanes free for the protection of passengers. Air-conditioning systems equipped with a particulate HEPA filter are designed to filter the cabin air as effectively as is otherwise only the case in hospitals. Furthermore, vertical ventilation, which runs from the ceiling to the floor, further reduces the risk of infection. Leading airlines such as Lufthansa or Ryanair have already declared that their aircraft are equipped in compliance with this model.
Trotec develops mobile air purifier with 99.995 per cent virus filtering
With the new TAC V+ air purifier, Trotec has now developed the first mobile version of this air purifying technology. The TAC V+ circulates and cleans the air in closed rooms just as effectively as would otherwise only be possible in hygiene-sensitive clean room environments and 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 per cent.
What may sound very technical in theory, is in fact extremely uncomplicated in practice. The indoor air is sucked in near the floor, cleaned of bacteria and viruses by the HEPA filter and then released vertically into the room as sterile clean air. “Plug & Play” set-up! No installation, no complicated connection process. Simply plug in and provide the best possible protection against infection!
Is this enough to win back the trust of guests and business customers?
As long as the fear of an infection with the coronavirus is greater than the usual comfort of a hotel, guests will cancel or postpone avoidable overnight stays. As well as that, the income from renting seminar and conference rooms, which is important for the total revenue, will only return to pre-crisis levels once a hotel can guarantee its guests and business customers maximum protection against infection. In other words, “real protection” that goes far beyond the various requirements of the respective federal states. Hotels can offer their guests this protection with an additional air purifier to protect against airborne viruses.
The numerous hotel associations and hotel federations are now in demand
Now the hotel associations, hotel federations and clubs are called upon to stand up for the interests of their members, just as the industry association IATA did. What applies to air transport must surely also apply to hotels and restaurants. Although the Federal Government is considering aid for catering and hotels, the capacity limits of the federal states are preventing economic survival.
Why air purifiers? The danger of infection is in the hotel air!
Virologists and epidemiologists are of one mind: social distancing, disinfection measures and so-called “spit protection walls” alone do not sufficiently protect against infection with the coronavirus. “A large proportion of corona infections can be attributed to droplets and aerosols”.
Half of all corona infections are caused by droplets and almost as often by infectious aerosols in the indoor air.
When breathing, speaking or coughing, we release not only large, visible droplets into the room in a sort of “drizzle”, but also tiny aerosols in much larger quantities. While the large droplets sink to the ground after only about 1.5 metres due to their weight (this informs 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”, explains the virologist. Therefore, social distancing, a limitation of the number of guests and more disinfectant dispensers alone do not protect against transmission of the virus. Even aerosols released when speaking spread invisibly through the air circulating in the room and are inhaled unnoticed even after the person coughing has already left the room.
How can hotels protect their guests from breathing in infectious aerosols?
Working for a company from Heinsberg that has been directly affected by the virus, Trotec engineers together with scientists and epidemiologists, have been looking into this question. The new TAC V+ high-frequency air purifier with particulate HEPA filtration was developed to filter infectious SARS-CoV-2 aerosols from indoor air – before they are inhaled!
“We have specialised in room air filtering from day one. After the first case was announced, our Heinsberg-based company immediately started work on a solution that actually helps and doesn’t just offer perceived protection , explains Trotec Managing Director Joachim Ludwig. “Masks and spit protection walls are one part of this. However, all experts now agree that aerosols, some of which remain in the air for hours, pose the greatest risk of infection. The aim must therefore be to filter them out of the room air.”
The high-frequency air purifier TAC V+ filters infectious aerosols from the room air
There are numerous zones in hotels where additional protection against coronavirus infection is not only desirable, but very much advisable:
- Entrance foyer: A “bus load” of new guests arrives and gathers at reception for check-in. But even during the rush hours for check-out, the guests bump into each other in a very confined space.
- Restaurant: Every good day begins with a good breakfast. Hotel restaurants are popular and often busy areas. They are unfortunately also just as popular for aerosols released when speaking, which spread themselves over the tables.
- Gyms: Especially during endurance and high-intensity training, many aerosols, sometimes contaminated with germs, are released into the air in the room.
- Conference and meeting rooms: Participants often breathe the same air in and out for hours.
In these and other areas there is one thing that helps against this spread of the viruses: permanent air purification that filters the illness-causing aerosols from the air before they are breathed in by other people in the room.
Protective walls against spitting at the reception, a table distance of 1.5 m in the restaurant, a limitation of the number of guests as well as increased cleaning and disinfection passages – 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 – even behind supposedly safe spit protection screens. Furthermore, infectious aerosols can be breathed in even through face masks because of their small size.
Maximum protection against infection by means of high-frequency air purifiers
Only a combined overall solution of all possible protective measures – including a high-frequency air purifier – reliably and permanently reduces the risk of infection for the guest during their stay. Aerosols in the room air do not adhere to social distancing rules – as potential virus transporters they are the actual source of danger! Therefore, the primary goal of every hotelier should be to prevent the breathing air from permeating through all areas with many guests as far as possible. And they can achieve this by using a TAC V+ air purifier in combination.
The TAC V+, which is now available for purchase or rental, was developed and tested in a Heinsberg study. Trotec recommends its use for infection protection in the following application areas:
- Lobbies
- Restaurants
- Meeting and conference rooms
- Gyms
- Play areas for children
- Beauty and wellness areas
High-frequency air purifier filters 99.995 per cent of infectious aerosols from the room air
The danger of becoming infected with the coronavirus through indoor air in a hotel despite observing all social distancing and security regulations is significantly reduced by using an air purifier TAC V+ with virus filter! Almost everywhere, infectious aerosol clouds can be filtered out of the room air within seconds by using the TAC V+. Wherever the mobile air purifier TAC V+ is placed, it creates clean and virus-filtered “clean air areas”. In these areas the ambient air remains largely free of airborne germs and viruses. The guest is protected from airborne infection.
You can’t ask for more, and you should demand no less of your protection:
- Compliance with all regulations and hygiene rules (masks, disinfection etc.)
- Distancing regulations and spit protection barriers to protect from droplet infection
- Air purification to reduce the airborne risk of infection
Interesting facts about the H14 HEPA particulate filter with a permeability level of ≤ 0.005 per cent.
With 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 their transmission level of just 0.005 per cent and separation level of 99.995 per cent, they offer 10 times higher separation compared to conventional H13 filters. Thanks to these first-class properties, H14 high-performance filters are even used to produce clean air in operating theatres and in other comparably hygiene-sensitive areas. These are the best criteria, therefore, for protecting hotel guests from the risk of infection in times of rampant epidemics.
All H14 high-performance filters offered by Trotec meet the highest quality standards, which are obligatory for the filtration of bacteria and viruses:
- Each H14 high-performance filter is individually tested and given its own serial number.
- The test report is enclosed in duplicate as a certificate with each H14 filter.
- The original test certificate can be filed away and a copy attached to the air purification device if required.
- H14 HEPA high performance filters are tested according to EN 1822 and EN 60335-2-69.
Trotec has developed special high-performance air purifiers for almost every application in the field of occupational safety
In addition to the TAC V+ high-performance air purifier, Trotec also offers other air purifiers, such as the TES 200 or the TAC 6500. We can supply you with free-standing air purification solutions as required, as well as air purifiers for integration into your existing room air system!
Our technical advisors will be pleased to discuss which device is optimal for your application in a personal meeting with you.
Buying a unit: If you have any questions, please contact us by email at info@trotec.de or give us a call on +49 2452 962-400.
Equipment rental: Please contact our TKL Rental Centre directly – by e-mail to info@tkl‑rent.net or call us on +49 2452 962-160.
