MANILA, Philippines — A powerful innovative decontamination system that could fight off spread of coronavirus has recently been reintroduced in the country amid the 2019 novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19 outbreak.
Makati Medical Center Foundation and its private partner SteraMist Asia from Singapore said this portable, hand-held disinfection or decontamination system called “SteraMist Surface Unit” is part of its pandemic preparedness program.
Colonel Achilles Estravila, Steraclean president, that carries the decontamination system in the Philippines said they are offering it in the country.
Estravila explained that the system “utilizes binary ionization technology.”
“This is a hydrogen peroxide in a very low concentration and it passes through a plasma art and produces this fog or mist that has a capacity to kill most of the pathogenic microorganisms from protozoa, bacteria, and viruses that would cover coronaviruses,” he said.
Singapore’s Cosem Security and Services company said the binary ionization technology has no harmful effects on people.
“It has fought many wars before— war against Ebola, MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus), the first SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome) and you can trace its history back during the anthrax attack against the US Senate,” Estravila added.
The anthrax attacks occurred in Washington, United States after the historic September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The Department of Health earlier said the coronavirus is a large family of viruses ranging from the common cold to more serious infections such as MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV.
'Gold standard' decontamination system
This powerful technology, according to MMC Foundation Executive Director Marge Barro is “gold standard” when it comes to decontamination although it did not claim on specifically addressing COVID-19.
“This has been recognized by the World Health Organization in terms of innovative technology and decontamination,” Estravilla added.
The Steraclean president said the decontamination system is currently being used by South Korea, Israel, US, United Kingdom, Singapore and China.
Pandemic preparedness program in Philippines
As the country faces the COVID-19 outbreak, Estravila said he is hopeful the Philippines will adopt this technology.
“We hope we can fit into the public health community’s pandemic preparedness program and response,” he said.
For the MMC Foundation’s part, Barro said they are also sharing this system with its public hospital partners.
“We at the Makati Med Center foundation have been really sharing with our 63 public hospital partners that there is a simpler much more innovative and a safer way in making sure that your surfaces and areas are clean,” she said.
The Department of Tourism recently partnered with the MMC Foundation, MVP Group of Campanies’ Tulong Kapatid or its social responsibility consortium “to improve Boracay Island’s health and communications portfolio.”
In view of this, the tourism agency said the MMC Foundation and its private sector partners would implement a Pandemic Preparedness Program “to help bring back tourism confidence here in Boracay from a health security perspective.”
The move is seen to level up Boracay, Aklan's Ciriaco S. Tirol Hospital from an infirmary to a level 1 trauma hospital.