Health and Safety Defenses
The best ways to against COVID-19 and other contagious illnesses are most definitely frequent hand washing, social distancing, and using appropriate personal protective equipment such as masks.
Regularly check your temperature and monitor any changes in your overall health and feel confident in safeguarding yourself, family and community.
At BigByte we have decided to take our precautionary game to the next level and have frequently brought in professionals to sanitize our school branches, take our daily cleaning of the environment extremely seriously and have installed UV disinfection lights that are timed to turn on every night.
Does UV light kill bacteria, I imagine you wondering?
UV light
UV light is one type of electromagnetic radiation that comes naturally from the sun and can also be created artificially with specialized bulbs.
There are three types of UV radiation—UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C—none of which can be observed with the naked eye.
Of the three, UV-C has the smallest wavelengths (180-280nm) and is the one required for UV disinfection.
UV-C light is just one disinfection method shown to inactivate the COVID-19 virus in multiple studies. According to the study, it is very important to note that
“It is very dangerous to try to use this method to disinfect surfaces inside homes.
To be fully effective, a system must be designed so that a person is not directly exposed to the light. ”
For this reason our branch UV disinfection lights turn on from 6:00 - 6:30 and 22:00 - 22:30 daily.
It’s also necessary to understand the difference between sanitation and disinfection. Sanitization reduces the number of germs on a surface. Disinfection, on the other hand, “eliminates many or all pathogenic microorganisms, except bacterial spores, on inanimate objects,” per the CDC.
Although UVC-C irradiation destroys Covid-19, it should be used as a second line of defense against viruses and microbes in general, since hand-washing, masks, and social distancing are easier and more effective.
We will continue to stay positive, work together and take all necessary precautions in anticipation of having our students back at school with us.