Cedarbrook to install air disinfecting units to help fight COVID-19
Lehigh County’s Cedarbrook nursing home is installing air-disinfecting units to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
More than 400 units were ordered for the facilities in Fountain Hill and South Whitehall Township and will be placed in every residential room and a variety of common areas, according to a news release from Lehigh County.
The units, known as GermZone 100UV, draw air through one end of a small box, then treat it with ultraviolet and C-band light that deactivates the virus. They deactivate nearly all of the virus in the air, said Keith Roe, founder of an environmental consulting company in Bath who went through Cedarbrook’s pandemic preparedness plan.
Lehigh County bought the units through Roe’s company, Advanced IAQ Solutions. He said the devices supplement other precautions, such as wearing masks, social distancing and cleaning.
Cedarbrook spent $350,000 so far on the units, money that came from federal coronavirus relief money, spokeswoman said Laura Grammes in an email.
The county’s purchase comes amid acknowledgement from the CDC this month that the virus could be airborne and travel more than 6 feet indoors.
“The recent news from the CDC regarding potential airborne transmission of COVID19 affirmedthe decision wemade last month to invest in UV-C
technology,” Cedarbrook administrator Jason Cumello said in a statement. “It has been challenging to sift through all the articles and studies out there trying to decide what is real. We have noticed that science has moved the major emphasis away from surface contact transmission and now more heavily stresses droplet and potentially airborne based transmission. We felt that UV-C air disinfection is the best most immediate improvement that we can make for our residents and staff.”
Cedarbrook has reported 372 coronavirus cases among residents and staff in its South Whitehall Township facility and 86 among people at its Fountain
Hill facility since the pandemic began, according to its website. Cedarbrook opened for visitors mid-September, but its two facilities then closed to visitors Sept. 24 and 26, respectively, after new positive cases were discovered. Grammes said there’s no concern about a wider outbreak at either facility.
Eighty-one residents have died from the virus at the South Whitehall facility and 24 at the Fountain Hill facility, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The facilities have about 510 residents, which is down from a capacity of 630 since the pandemic, Cumello has said. There are about 800 workers.
Roe said the new devices can play a role in cleaning the viral cloud, or tiny particles that can travel further than 6 feet and remain in the air for hours.
Northampton County’s Gracedale nursing facility doesn’t have plans to use the same type of units, said county spokeswoman Becky Bartlett. It uses a UVlight robot that can disinfect room where there are known infections in 15 minutes.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has recorded 5,614 nursing home residents who have died from the virus as of Tuesday, or about two-thirds of all coronavirus-related deaths in the state.