COVID-19 - A big risk for frontline healthcare workers

Since the beginning of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic, healthcare workers have shown remarkable resilience and professional dedication. They are one of our strongest “weapons” in the fight against COVID-19. But even with all the safety measures and cleaning protocols in hospitals, they still get infected with COVID-19 during work.

Healthcare workers who have been integral to the response to COVID-19, have been shown repeatedly to be at the highest risk.

As the northern hemisphere enters winter and the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic is already causing an exponential increase of new infections. Governments, healthcare managers, and occupational health specialists need to consider how best to protect healthcare workers. This is necessary to protect the healthcare workers, their families, and in addition to reduce onward transmission into the community.

So what can we do to minimize the number of infected medical professionals and maintain a functioning healthcare system?

A clean and safe work environment is urgently needed.

During lockdowns, most essential workers are unable to protect themselves by working from home. Healthcare workers who have been integral to the response to COVID-19, have been shown repeatedly to be at the highest risk. The greatest risk to healthcare workers may be their own colleagues or patients in the early stages of unsuspected infections when viral loads are high. The problem then escalates when those workers transmit the infection to their household contacts. During the first wave of the pandemic, overstretched healthcare systems left health workers struggling with long working hours, fatigue, and extreme psychological stress.

One of the main causes of such rapid infection transmission among hospital workers is the lack of efficient cleaning procedures. Current hospital disinfection techniques can miss up to 50% of microbes because they are in hard-to-reach areas of the room and workers can’t see them with their naked eye and make sure that a place is clean. Some other more complicated methods can take hours and lots of staff to deliver.

How to prevent larger outbreaks? 

That’s where disinfection with UV-C light comes into play. It is proven that it inactivates all sorts of microorganisms (bacteria, archaea, fungi, protozoa, algae, and viruses) with a reduction of 99.9999%. Yes, even SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19) which is particularly sensitive to UV-C rays that destroy it extremely quickly.

With the help of a certified and medical-grade UV-C device such as SteriPro, we can greatly improve existing cleaning protocols with an effective extra layer of disinfection. According to the information from the Slovak Cardiology Hospital, after introducing SteriPro in their cleaning routine, no more infections were detected among the employees. They are using the UV-C disinfection device up to 30 times a day, with no additional workload and infinitely safer circumstances. Knowing their environment is properly disinfected, it is unimaginatively easier for hospital professionals to carry out their work.

Healthcare professionals need an easy and effective solution.

One of the most important aspects of a more effective cleaning solution is that it’s convenient to use and reliable. Hospitals need an easy solution that won’t cause additional stress to an already deprived number of available workers.

The SteriPro device offers an easy and safe introduction to the disinfection process. It’s automated and operated by a smart tablet. With its sensors, it scans the environment and calculates the duration of UV-C exposure the room needs to effectively (99,9999%) disinfect the place. This disinfection procedure usually takes 10 - 20 minutes and only requires one worker to transport the device into the room and start the process.

As effective as UV-C technology is in killing microbes, it can also damage humans. That’s why providing a safe experience is one of the key aspects of such devices. Our device provides superior safety with its motion sensors. When its sensors detect movement in the room, the device automatically stops with the disinfection process and shuts down instantly in order to prevent any damage to the human. 

We all can help

Human beings in general have a great resilience capability and adaptability to circumstances. However, we require help from other people to facilitate these processes. That's why we all need to do our best to prevent the spread of this virus.

Respecting government measures such as social distancing and wearing a mask is proven to reduce the spread of the virus If we all do our best to respect these measures, we’ll see fewer infections and possibly lower numbers of hospitalized people. We know the struggles healthcare workers face every day which is why we will continue to educate about the current problem and available solutions. Thank you to all the healthcare professionals around the world! We’re all in this together, and together we will win!

Sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/index.html

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30164-X/fulltext

https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3582

https://www.who.int/news/item/17-09-2020-keep-health-workers-safe-to-keep-patients-safe-who

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/L20-0175

https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3944

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/healthcare-workers.html

https://intjem.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12245-020-00299-5

https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/hcp/hcwrecs.pdf