Once again, COVID-19 cases are rising all across the United States, recently hitting 11 million cases. The second wave is stretching our medical systems and infrastructure and is putting more pressure on hospitals unequipped to handle the growing volume of cases. Weâve recently seen an extreme example of this challenge in North Dakota where Governor Burgum said that asymptomatic health care workers who have tested positive for the coronavirus can continue working, in an effort to ease the stress of handling the growing number of cases.
As always, we are grateful for our health care heroes who have put themselves at risk to provide care to our friends, family and communities throughout the pandemic. In this challenging moment we are proud to be working with hospitals and many other healthcare environments to help make their spaces safer with PURO UV Disinfection Lighting products, powered by Violet DefenseÂŪ technology. But itâs not just COVID-19 thatâs so challenging to hospitals. The CDC estimates that 1 in every 25 patients contracts a Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) daily posing economic challenges on top of the added threat of the pandemic. Weâre dedicating ourselves to support hospitals and other health care facilities to create the cleanest, healthiest spaces for patients, health care workers and families alike.
We understand that for a long time, health care facilities have been concerned with HAI resistance to chemical disinfection. In some cases, entire facilities must shut down in order to achieve the level of disinfection required to ward off pathogens. PURO UV Disinfection Lighting products make it easier and mitigates that fear by irradicating up to 99.9% of bacteria and viruses* by destroying their ability to be viable or reproduce.
It is widely understood that COVID-19 spreads more through aerosols than on surfaces. A custodial routine that only cleans surfaces is not enough. PURO Lighting uses broad-spectrum light, including germicidal UV-C, UV-B and bactericidal UV-A to optimize their efficiency on both surfaces and airborne particles. PURO Lighting products can provide a level of disinfection in the air that will help prevent the spread of and pathogens.
PURO UV disinfectant lights are designed for ease of use and efficiency to remove some of the pain points inherent in other disinfection routines. We also work with clients to help market their partnership with PURO Lighting to better communicate how the technology works so that everyone feels safer and less stressed while at the hospital.
For hospitals and other healthcare facilities, PURO Lighting has different UV disinfection products suited for any application. Our Helo fixtures can be mounted on a wall or permanently installed into a ceiling. Our Sentry units offer unparalleled flexibility and convenience as they can be rolled into different rooms on a portable tripods or carts. And for larger spaces and high touch areas, our new PUROBOT UV autonomous, programmable disinfecting robot can cover much ground while disinfecting along a predetermined route. PURO UV disinfection products are easy to use, so staff can set up quick, safe routines that do not need to operate while patients and health care providers are in the room. They can provide whole room protection no matter the size of the space can be programmed to disinfect on demand in one cycle.
Hospitals and PURO UV Disinfection Lighting. Together weâre working on making spaces healthier for patients, staff, doctors and visitors.
*SARS-CoV-2, E. coli, MRSA, Norovirus, C. auris, C. diff
The COVID-19 pandemic has put schools and universities all across the US in an extraordinarily challenging position. For schools that are currently open, or planning to reopen, the need to create a six-foot radius, and requiring students to wear masks, and frequently wash their hands is a challenge to say the least. Virtual learning, the alternative, can negatively impact a childâs quality of an education, safety and social life. Thatâs why in-person learning is critical as it provides a supportive learning environment for all. Schools also must consider the risk they are taking on behalf of the families, their teachers and faculty, and the community at large. Even when schools plan and prepare, coronavirus cases may still occur.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that schools consider 2 key factors when planning for reopening or staying open: current infection rates in their community and how well their mitigation strategies will prevent the spread. This is where PUROâĒ UV Disinfection Lighting, powered by Violet DefenseÂŪ technology comes in. PURO Lighting is dedicated to helping communities reopen and keep schools open to support safe learning for students of all ages. Using PURO UV Disinfection Lighting, in combination with other safety measures, will make parents and educators feel safer as schools continue operating during, and even after, COVID-19.
Schools need to be able to provide safe and healthy spaces to successfully remain open. PURO Lighting products are quick, affordable, incredibly flexible, and kill up to 99.9% of bacteria and viruses* by destroying their ability to reproduce. We understand it can be challenging to quell the fears of community members and successfully communicate the safety measures in place. Thatâs why PURO Lighting is also available to work with our school and university customers to help communicate how the technology works to make community members feel safer sending their children back to school.
It is widely understood that COVID-19 spreads more through aerosols than on surfaces. A custodial routine that only cleans surfaces is not enough. PURO Lighting uses broad-spectrum light, including germicidal UV-C, UV-B and bactericidal UV-A to optimize their efficiency on both surfaces and airborne particles. PURO Lighting products can provide a level of disinfection in the air that will help prevent the spread of airborne diseases and pathogens.
PURO Lighting has four different disinfectant lighting products suited for any schools setting. Helo fixtures can be mounted on a wall or built right into a ceiling for programmable and automatic disinfection. Sentry mobile units can be rolled into different classrooms on a portable stand for maximum flexibility. And our new PUROBOT UV programmable disinfection robot can be used throughout the school, as it automatically disinfects large spaces and high-touch areas such as hallways, gyms, locker rooms, kitchens, auditoriums and more. The PUROBOT UV robot can also be leased and can prove to be an outstanding value to help keep all schools and universities open, safe and disinfected from todayâs coronavirus, to influenza, and any other virus that may pop up in the future. Our products are designed for ease of use, so janitors can set up quick, safe disinfection routines that do not need to operate while educators and students are at school. We are proud to offer a high-tech, powerful and affordable approach to disinfection in schools to promote healthy environments and peace of mind for students, teachers and parents alike.
*SARS-CoV-2, E. Coli, MRSA, Norovirus, C. diff, C. auris
Itâs been a long and difficult trip for the hotel industry. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitality has been one of the hardest hit industries. Between February and early September hotels in the US lost more than $46 billion in room revenue, with projections of 50% losses for the year, according to STR and Tourism Economics. This has meant widespread, and heart-breaking, layoffs and furloughs and has put 33,000 American hospitality businesses at risk.
In order to drive revenue back up, hotels must find a way to win back the confidence of their guests who are already concerned about traveling in the current and post COVID world. Weâve seen a number of creative solutions emerge in the last eight months, but thereâs no doubt hotels need to reshape their strategy and conform to guest expectations of much higher standards of cleanliness and disinfection.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, making guests feel comfortable has evolved to include a heavier emphasis on disinfection and safety. According to a McKinsey Consumer Leisure Travel Survey, most US leisure travelers, when asked what it would take for them to travel again, want additional health and safety measures.
Some things may return to ânormal,â but many trends and behaviours are here to stay, including the demand for higher attention to disinfection and safety for guests and employees alike. And while the hospitality industry may take longer than other industries to fully recover, action can be taken now to win back the confidence of guests, and help hotels find new ways to deliver the level of disinfection travelers are demanding today and in the future.
Today, PUROâĒ UV Disinfection Lighting, powered by Violet DefenseÂŪ technology, is helping hotels disinfect smarter to get back on their feet sooner. PURO Lighting products, paired with other safety measures, such as touchless or contactless experiences, can make guests feel safer and confident their hotel room and other public spaces are fully disinfected. PURO Lighting products are fast, flexible, affordable and will kill up to 99.9% of todayâs COVID-19 virus, as well as bacteria, mold and fungi* that typically hinder a hotelâs clean operation.
Additionally, a disinfection routine that includes only surface cleaning is not enough to satisfy the expectations of your guests. PURO Lighting uses broad-spectrum light, including germicidal UV-C, UV-B and bactericidal UV-A to optimize their efficacy on both surfaces and airborne particles. PURO Lighting can provide disinfection in the air that is scientifically proven to prevent the spread of airborne diseases and pathogens.
PURO Lighting understands that a big part of keeping your hotel open and healthy is communicating to guests that important cleanliness and safety measures have been put in place for their benefit. Thatâs why we offer to work with our customers to help communicate how our technology works to make hotel guests feel safer wherever people gather on your property, including lobbies, guest rooms, gyms, restaurants, spas and more.
PURO Lighting has different products perfect for any application in a hotel setting. Our units can be mounted on a wall, embedded into a ceiling, rolled into different rooms on a portable stand, or programmed to run autonomously with the new PUROBOT UV robot. Our products are designed for ease of use, so hotel employees can set up quick, safe routines that wonât disrupt day-to-day business. We are proud to help hotel owners, managers, employees, and guests rest easy knowing that their hotel is disinfected and ready to greet guests and provide peace of mind.
*Independently validated to kill up to 99.9% of SARS-CoV-2, E. coli, MRSA, Salmonella enterica, Norovirus, C. diff and C. auris
So many of our customers have been asking us the same thing â can they use Federal CARES Act funds to purchase PPE, cleaning materials, and sanitizing equipment necessary to maintain safe operations during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? The answer is simple. Yes, you can. But you are running out of time to use those funds!
Schools, medical facilities, doctorâs offices, and many businesses can still secure UV light disinfection equipment before CARES Act funds end December 31, 2020.
Our company, PUROâĒ UV Disinfection Lighting, powered by Violet DefenseÂŪ technology, can help you navigate your ability to use CARES Act funds to purchase full-spectrum UV light disinfection equipment that can help safeguard your facilities to be up to 99.9% pathogen free*. Our powerful, full-spectrum UV light equipment has already been proven to disinfect for SARS-CoV-2, or the virus that causes COVID-19, and is already effectively helping people from coast to coast prevent the further spread of the virus. Our team of engineers and experts can not only help you create space disinfection plans for your facilities, classrooms or offices, but we can help you write grants, communicate to boards, and even help you share your disinfection story with all those who need to hear how youâre approaching safety.
There is no doubt that the current worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the entire hotel industry, as well as general tourism, air and cruise ship travel, the convention industry and all other travel-related categories. For the hotel industry, the plunge in reservations and RevPAR were precipitous, beginning their dramatic tumble in the first weeks of March 2020, and remaining broadly unrecovered today.
The hotel and travel industries, like so many other industries from manufacturing, sales and services were simply caught unprepared for the advent of the novel coronavirus. The concept of “preparedness” becomes important when we consider the typical market forces that have guided the vast majority of companies since the beginning of the 20th Century.
American enterprise, and even the valuation of most companies, is based on placing efficiency and cost containment over resiliency and preparedness. The obvious result of this orientation is the difference between short-term thinking and long-term planning. The truth is, it’s hard for many companies to shoulder the costs associated with being prepared for “whatever may come” in their desire to operate in the most cost-efficient ways possible.
Even for higher-end luxury hotels, costs are often weighed against the perceived benefit. Buying and stockpiling expensive disinfection equipment, materials and even employee hours, when not faced with a potential pathogenic threat is nearly unthinkableâĶmore of a Hollywood movie plot than anything that might occur in real life.
Things Have Changed
The events of the past 8 months have forced the hotel industry, as well as so many other industries, to reevaluate the notion of efficiency vs. preparedness. And, as we consider the future of travel and hotel accommodations, the implications for hotel design and remodeling creates new opportunities for resiliency and survival in the months and years to come.
Technologies exist today that not only help in the short term, but can be powerful solutions in the future, if the hospitality world places more value on being prepared for any future infectious event. And, it’s important to consider that travelers, driven by concern and in search of peace of mind and higher standards of safety, will be searching for accommodations that provide for higher levels of disinfection. The traveling public will not soon forget the impact and fear created by this pandemic.
One such technology is UV light disinfection. Today, more and more hotels and resorts are turning to the germicidal properties of UV light to quickly disinfect guest rooms, fitness facilities, bathrooms and other public spaces in order to earn the confidence of re-emerging travelers searching for safety protocols that can protect them against the COVID-19 virus. UV light products, if powerful enough, can make spaces where people gather up to 99.9% pathogen-free.
But first, let’s understand a bit of the science behind the germicidal properties of UV light.
How Does Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation Work?
Ultraviolet light is naturally present in sunlight and makes up roughly 10% of the total light generated by the sun. UV is a form of electromagnetic energy with a wavelength from 10 nm to 400 nm, but the germicidal effects are found on the wavelengths of UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C light.
By targeting the sensitive DNA of a pathogenic organism, various wavelengths of UV light can modify the genetic material of microorganisms by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA causing cell death as well as an inability to reproduce. This disinfection can occur on surfaces and in the air, making high-energy UV light disinfection products perfect for air handling units, food and water purification, surface disinfection and more.
Additionally, UV-B and UV-A light causes oxidation of proteins and lipids causing cell death. Broad spectrum (UV A, B and C) lamps are proven to inhibit photoreactivation, the process that can result in self-repair of damaged microbes. Powerful, clinical-level UV disinfection fixtures can produce strong enough UV light to irradicate microorganisms such as today’s COVID-19 virus, as well as bacteria, molds, and fungi up to a clinical level of 99.9%. This makes UV light disinfection technology also perfect for hotel properties that experience issues with water damage and general mold and fungi growth.
From Rehabbing and Remodeling to New Construction, Build Toward Preparedness
UV disinfection light technology, delivered through small yet powerful units integrated into rooms, restaurants, spas, event spaces and other public areas of a hotel, is one way of seamlessly bringing disinfection into the overall operation of a hotel. The disinfection qualities of UV light have been scientifically proven for well over 100 years. Recent innovations of this technology have made the delivery of UV light disinfection more powerful, flexible and affordable than ever.
From UV lighting products mounted into the ceilings of bathrooms, to portable units that can disinfect all surfaces and the air in hotel rooms, to autonomous robots that follow predetermined paths throughout unpopulated halls and large public areas, hotels can build in clinical-level disinfection cycles to keep guests, staff and visitors safe from infectious diseases. And, unlike traditional housekeeping protocols that use harsh chemical cleaners to wipe down surfaces, UV light can literally inactivate up to 99.9% of viruses, including today’s COVID-19 virus, but can destroy molds, fungi and bacteria that plague so many hotels nationwide.
As architects and lighting specifiers consider helping their hotel clients be as prepared as possible for any future pathogen, as well as provide real solutions for containing the growth of bacteria, molds and fungi, building in UV lighting solutions from the very start will allow hotels to continue to operate responsibly and profitably come what may. The cost of this layer of preparation can be far less than the cost of operational shutdown. And, in time, the overall cost of building in sanitation by UV light can be less than the constant cost of stockpiling additional chemical cleaners and the labor hours needed to do all disinfection by hand.
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UV light technology has been proven to kill up to 99.9% of Coronavirus, E. coli, Salmonella, Norovirus, MRSA, C. auris and C. diff. Using UV light technology in hotel rooms and other spaces can irradicate pathogens on surfaces including drapes, carpets, rugs, and bedding as well as irradiating the air inside the room.
New UV Disinfection Light Technologies to Watch For
Today, there is a growing number of powerful and effective UV disinfection solutions that hotels can bring to their operations as a way to earn back their guest’s confidence and peace of mind in staying at hotel properties. As we look to the future, there are a number of new technologies on the horizon that will continue to advance the use of UV light disinfection for the benefit of not just the hospitality industry but many other industries as well.
Whether it’s new hotel development or remodeling or retrofitting existing properties to provide a higher level of guest safety and operational preparedness, these new technologies are right around the corner and can create seamless, 360° disinfection solutions.
Far UV-C
A topic of great interest and conversation, the era for far UV-C innovation is just beginning as manufacturers and industries discover the potential of this technology. It’s common knowledge that conventional germicidal UVC light, (254 nm wavelength) can disinfect spaces, on surfaces and the air, but the room must be completely empty of people or pets in order to avoid potential harmful effects of direct UV light to skin and eyes.
Far UV-C, at 222 nm wavelength, cannot penetrate the outer skin layer or the tear layer of the eye, so it doesn’t pose any safety concerns for people in the room while disinfection is occurring. As it can’t reach and then damage living cells in people or pets, UV disinfection can occur whenever the need arises, anytime, anyplace and anywhere. There is currently a lot of development, energy and resources devoted to this new technology, most recently because a major university has concluded that far UV-C can, in fact, irradicate SARS CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The impact of far UV-C on the hotel industry could be huge and go a long way in allowing all hotels the chance to continually disinfect as well as protect against any future potential infections.
Integrated Ambient/UV Light Fixtures
Another approaching technology is the ability to create lighting fixtures that merge both traditional ambient lighting with UV disinfection lighting. This would allow installation of lighting fixtures in hotel rooms, bathrooms, meeting and event spaces, spas and more, where disinfection could occur seamlessly, and integrated into pre-programmed building controls and IoT platforms. So, for example, when guests check out of a room, the ambient/UV light fixtures could automatically run their disinfection cycle and room turnover could happen that much quicker.
UV-LED
Today’s LED lighting products do emit extremely small amounts of light in the UV spectrum, but at levels that provide no real disinfection effect. However, UV-LED technology has seen a lot of attention in the past few years, as interest in environmentally friendly UV light production has increased. Current products available can deliver UV light throughout the UV-A, B and C wavelengths, though it’s still a number of years away from being a practical and cost-efficient way to bring UV disinfection to the hotel and other industries.
The Future Will See Innovation and Limitless Possibilities
For the hotel industry, and indeed from categories ranging from healthcare and sports facilities to restaurants and schools, the real future is being written right now. The worldwide pandemic itself has caused the adoption of UV disinfection technologies, and the search for new innovations, to accelerate by 5 to 10 years. Indeed, 8 months ago, most hotel GM’s, executives and owners might not have ever heard of UV light disinfection, let alone considered it. Now, the market for this technology is growing quickly as hospitality companies search for methods to keep their guests and staff safe.
Designing Hotels for Tomorrow
While the lessons of a near-total shutdown for the hotel industry will be indelible and lasting, certainly tourism, travel and hospitality will, at some point, make a full recovery. The need for business travel, along with the age-old desire to explore and experience new things will bring travel back to life. But the memories of the pandemic, altered consumer behavior, and a heightened sense of awareness and caution will drive the hotel industry to build in that extra level of safety, cleanliness and preparedness for all guests in the future.
In fact, there’s indication today that travelers will be asking for, perhaps even demanding, a higher level of hotel cleanliness than ever before. Today, UV disinfection lighting technology can play a big part in winning back travelers to a hotel and hotel brand. And, in the future, building in the layer of preparedness for any new pathogen or infection, can help to safeguard hotel properties from losing revenue, profits and reputation in the blink of an eye.
As new hotel projects are being considered, or remodeling is being done, specifying UV disinfection products are a great way to stay operationally strong and most importantly, resilient well into the future.
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Brian Stern is the CEO and Co-Founder of both PURO UV Disinfection Lighting After receiving his BS in Business Administration from the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business, Mr. Stern founded, along with partner Webb Lawrence, LED Supply Co., LLC, a wholesale distributor of LED lighting products with a focus on sustainability and energy efficiency. In early 2019, Mr. Stern added to his lighting company portfolio by co-founding PURO UV Disinfection Lighting, with the initial mission of protecting people’s health and promoting wellness with next-generation UV light technologies, powered by Violet Defense. Today, he is CEO of an extraordinarily-fast growing enterprise at the very center of helping to keep people safe and infection-free during an international pandemic. Mr. Stern can be contacted at 877-452-8785 or bstern@purolighting.com Please visit https://purolighting.com for more information.
