KHON KAEN– A disinfection tunnel has been set up at a technical college in the northeastern province of KhonKaen to disinfect people with ultraviolet (UV) in an attempt to fight coronavirus.
Chum Phae Technical College has built the tunnel called CTC-G5 UV-Ultraviolet equipped with three 30-watt UV light bulbs.
The 2-meter-tall and 1.5-meter-wide tunnel is made of metal frame and plastic sheets.
To complete the disinfection process, people had to go through a thermo scanner and clean their hands with sanitizer before walking through the tunnel, according to the college staff.
The sterilizing system is part of an effort to control the virus outbreak as hand sanitizer supplies are running low.
Ultraviolet killed viruses including the novel coronavirus 2019. But certain level of UV exposure was harmful to human’s skin, therefore, a walk-through lasted 3-10 seconds, they said.
Users must not directly look at the UV light bulb, they added.
The College plans to build two more UV disinfection tunnels for sales to private businesses.
Such effort to use UV to kill coronavirus is, however, doubtful. Experts say concentrated UV light can be used at extremely high intensities and certain amount of time as a disinfectant.
An advisory by the World Health Organization (WHO) also stated that UV lamps should not be used as a disinfectant for the coronavirus as UV radiation can cause skin irritation. (TNA)