Proactive
Proactive is the leading digital news and media group, dominating the "Small-Mid Cap" companies investor sector across four continents. Proactive Investors Australia is a part of the largest global financial investor network with offices in Australia, Europe, Asia and North America.
See more information about Proactive
Delta 9 Cannabis debuts new decontamination pods to help fight coronavirus
When the coronavirus (COVID-19) first hit North American shores in March, few people would have expected cannabis companies to try and fight the pandemic in any real way.
But as more research about COVID-19 came to the fore in the months since the virus emerged, Canadian company Delta 9 Cannabis Inc (TSE:DN) realized it may have the technology and resources to step up and help stop the spread.
Now, with Canada and the US firmly in the grip of a devastating second wave of the virus, Delta 9 is debuting its Decontamination Pods, or D-Pods, a retrofitted shipping container specially equipped with UV lights and heaters that will kill the virus on things like personal protective equipment. If that sounds familiar, it's because the D-Pod is essentially a redesign of the company's popular Grow-Pods, which are modular facilities used to cultivate cannabis.
The idea first came to the team when studies from the National Institute of Health broke over the summer indicating that exposure to high temperatures over a set length of time was effective in decontaminating personal protective equipment (PPE). Although only a small scale study, the results spurred Delta 9 to consider whether they could take the concept and build a commercial application.
And thus, after a few tweaks and trials, the D-Pod made its debut in November. Developed in partnership with three other local firms, the unit is equipped with a combination of powerful UV lights and heaters to decontaminate articles placed inside its chamber. Temperatures inside the pod can reach up to 60 degrees Celsius, which is above the necessary threshold laid out in the studies. It takes around 30 minutes to decontaminate items in the chamber in combination with UVC light saturation. An independent third party laboratory validated the technology as being able to kill 99.9% of microorganisms.
It is a game-changer in the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19 as, until now, PPE and items potentially exposed to the virus carried a one-time-use-only guarantee. Hospitals, care homes, retail stores, sports arenas and others can use the D-Pods to sanitize their equipment, and its modular design allows for easy installation. The 15ft by 8ft decontamination area has capacity for a significant amount of PPE or equipment, allowing hospitals or governments to clean large amounts of material. In the midst of record-high case levels exacting a strain on healthcare facilities, having a steady supply of clean PPE is crucial.
Other Proactive news
- AgraFlora Organics International receives cannabis edibles processing license for its Winnipeg manufacturing facility
2020-12-14 - Humanigen showing positive results for cancer drug lenzilumab, also used to treat patients hospitalized with coronavirus
2020-12-08 - XPhyto touts rapid 25-minute RT-PCR lab test for coronavirus detection
2020-10-28 - One World Lithium to start proof of concept program testing potential lithium separation technology
2020-10-27 - Revive Therapeutics commits to 10 sites for Phase 3 coronavirus trial of bucillamine
2020-10-26
