Ozone system could help in Covid control

TREATING coronavirus-infected laundry with a professional ozone washing system could help in infection control, according to research.

A study carried out at De Montfort University found that the Otex washing system, which uses ozone to kill bacteria even at low temperatures, completely removes all traces of coronavirus (OC43), a model virus for SARS-CoV-2.

The system, created by commercial laundry equipment supplier JLA, was tested by a research team overseen by Dr Katie Laird, head of the Infectious Disease Research Group, and virologist Dr Maitreyi Shivkumar.

They found that cleaning with the Otex technology completely removed the coronavirus, even in large loads.

Additional testing proved the virus was not transferred to other textiles.

They said the research proves coronavirus-infected laundry can be cleaned at low temperatures, allowing heat sensitive items such as personal clothing, hospital mattress covers, emergency rescue wear and microfibre items to be cleaned effectively.

Dr Laird and her team are now completing the next stage of their research, looking at the rate at which the virus is inactivated in the cleaning process.

Dr Laird said: “A key element of tackling the spread of Covid-19 is to understand how effective infection control can be implemented in realworld settings.

“There are a variety of situations in which textiles potentially carrying the virus need to be cleaned, such as care homes, hospitals and hotels.

“Until now we have had little data about how the virus responded to different types of cleaning. These initial results demonstrate cleaning with ozone completely removes the model coronavirus.

“This held true even when treating larger loads of washing, as is likely to be the case in a real laundry setting.”