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Education still showing covid symptoms

Health & Education

The education sector was affected by covid in good and bad ways. As we wrote in a previous article, one positive outcome of the pandemic was that the education sector was able to digitise with new technology and software. The downfall was closed schools and activities; children really had the short end of the stick with their education.

But a new kind of technology may help bring a solution to the problem. According to a BBC article, doctors have welcomed a £6m air technology fund to stop covid spreading in schools, colleges and universitiesThe Welsh government said it would pay for 30,000 CO2 sensors and 1,800 ozone disinfecting machines developed by Swansea University.

Past research has shown that the covid virus spreads through the air, especially the new Delta variant. Dr Rhys Thomas, a consultant in anaesthetics at Glangwili Hospital, said: 

“We have to bring in multiple mitigations to defeat this virus. We need fresh air and clear air in indoor environments. CO2 monitors are our canaries in the coalmine. They’ll start warning us that there’s not enough fresh air into that room.” 

This new kind of innovation shows that covid technology may not be out of the market yet. There are still organizations, in both the public and private sectors, that are willing to pay for health and sanitation technology to fight covid. And with the new Delta variant making its way through many countries, we may not have seen the last of covid defences just yet.

It’s not just going to be schools paying for this kind of technology, a lot of offices will too; companies are eager to get their employees back in the office. They will be looking for ways to keep their offices clean and covid-free, while housing hundreds of employees.

Innovation in battling covid will be around for a while, just like the virus. If you’re in the software and technology field, capitalising on keeping covid out of schools and offices could be a game changer.

These machines have been developed to speed-up the decontamination of classrooms following a confirmed outbreak of Covid-19 only, and not as a form of air purification for occupied indoor spaces.

By Anusheh Khan on 07/09/2021