On 31 December 2019, WHO was alerted to several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The virus did not match any other known virus. This raised concern because when a virus is new, we do not know how it affects people.
One week later, on 7 January, Chinese authorities confirmed that they had identified a new virus. The new virus is a coronavirus, which is a family of viruses that include the common cold, and viruses such as SARS and MERS. This new virus was temporarily named “2019-nCoV.”
WHO has been working with Chinese authorities and global experts from the day we were informed, to learn more about the virus, how it affects the people who are sick with it, how they can be treated, and what countries can do to respond.
Because this is a coronavirus, which usually causes respiratory illness, WHO has advice to people on how to protect themselves and those around them from getting the disease.
WHO’s standard recommendations for the general public to reduce exposure to and transmission of a range of illnesses are as follows, which include hand and respiratory hygiene, and safe food practices:
- Frequently clean hands by using alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water;
- When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw away the tissue immediately and wash hands;
- Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough;
- If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing seek medical care early and share previous travel history with your health care provider;
- The consumption of raw or undercooked animal products should be avoided. Raw meat, milk or animal organs should be handled with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices.
Setting up clean air zones in common areas of your workplace or education institution could also help mitigate transmission of not only potential outbreaks of Coronavirus but also related illness such as common cold, influenza and measles.
IQAir supplies air purifiers and virus-resistant masks to key hospitals in Wuhan
IQAir took action to provide HealthPro 250 air purifiers to hospitals in Wuhan designated to treat those infected with the coronavirus, supplying the purifiers first to the radiology unit, respiratory unit, and other relevant hospital units at the Tongji Hospital, affiliated with the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, as well as to Wuhan Union Hospital to help prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, IQAir also arranged its global supply chain to give priority to the supply of the IQAir Mask in the Wuhan region. In the case of a limited supply of these masks, IQAir dedicated resources to the urgent transfer of goods to the Wuhan region.
How IQAir helped prevent the SARS virus outbreak
According to public health officials, this new coronavirus comes from the same family of viruses as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) at the center of a major deadly outbreak that made international headlines in 2003.7,8,9 And IQAir technology solutions have already been rigorously tested against this family of viruses –the Hong Kong Hospital Authority provided more than 150 hospitals with designated IQAir air purifiers to resist the spread of the 2003 SARS epidemic.
Decades of experience in air purification system projects with medical institutions around the world prepared the Switzerland-based organization well for both the SARS outbreak and the 2020 coronavirus outbreak. The respiratory unit of Peking University People's Hospital in Beijing, China purchased numerous IQAir HealthPro 250 systems during the SARS outbreaks in 2003 – over 16 years later, the systems are still in stable operation.
IQAir commits to helping end the Coronavirus outbreak
IQAir’s central vision is simple: “Clean air for everyone, anytime, anywhere.” IQAir has thus committed itself to help prevent the spread of this new coronavirus.
"We are very concerned about the new coronavirus epidemic situation in China, and sincerely hope to make some contribution to the victory of the epidemic situation. "We hope that the epidemic will pass as soon as possible, and everyone can rest assured," said Frank Hammes, global CEO of IQAir.
Contact Filtercorp Health New Zealand's only registered agent for IQAir for advice and technical queries for home, school and work environments. There are a number of different units available based on your requirements and we can offer advice on the right IQAir unit to suit your needs. From home, office. classroom to the waiting room, there is an IQAir unit that will be able to create a clean air zone to help mitigate the spread of airborne bacteria and virus.
Contact us at Filtercorphealth.co.nz or phone 0800 481 9999.
Resouces
[1] 2019 novel coronavirus, Wuhan, China. (2020). https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
[2] Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). (2020). https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
[3] Geographical distribution of 2019-nCov cases. (2020). https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases
[4] Cheng A. (2020, January 22). Newly identified coronavirus has killed 17 people, Chinese health officials say. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/22/798383170/health-officials-in-china-say-9-dead-from-newly-identified-coronavirus
[5] Lai KKR, et al. (2020, January 23). Maps: Where the Wuhan coronavirus has spread. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/21/world/asia/china-coronavirus-maps.html
[6] Citroner G. (2020, January 21). First cases of mysterious coronavirus reported in the U.S.: What to know now. https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-to-know-about-the-mysterious-coronavirus-detected-in-china
[7] SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome). (2020). https://www.who.int/ith/diseases/sars/en/
[8] Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). (2017). https://www.cdc.gov/sars/index.html
[9] Guo H, et al. (2020, January 22). Snakes could be the original source of the new coronavirus outbreak in China. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snakes-could-be-the-original-source-of-the-new-coronavirus-outbreak-in-china/
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