Farmers Insurance installs system in Delaware that rids indoor air of Covid-19 droplets

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Today, Farmers is installing what is described as the world’s only Covid-killing Biodefense Indoor Air Protection System  from Texas-based  Integrated Viral Protection.

Integrated is installing the equipment at the  insurance company’s  offices on Beaver Valley Road, off Concord Pike. The system is  also being installed at Farmers sites in  Texas, Colorado, and California.

The Farmers Insurance headquarters  is the first corporate office building to  add the IVP heated-air filtration system to  their HVAC  system.

IVP’s, citing laboratory data, says its  technology destroys  99.9 percent of  the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, as well as anthrax spores, and other airborne pathogens.
 
Testing has included a Covid-19 unit at a hospital with a heavy concentration of droplets.

The system differs somewhat  from the HEPA cabin filters touted by airlines. The  filter is based on HEPA technology but kills the virus with the  rather than trapping it.  The technology does not significantly heat up the space where it is being used.
 
Interest in  IVP’s technology grew when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found  increasing evidence of “aerosol” spread of the virus, with droplets that can go well beyond six feet and stay in the air  for a period of time.
 
The system from the Texas company is being championed by Dr. Kenneth E. Thorpe, chair of the Department of Health Policy & Management in the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Thrope was  Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton Administration.
 
(The Rollins School has indirect Delaware ties, with a member of the family of Delaware and Georgia industrialists a major donor  to the Atlanta university).
 
Thorpe, who came across the IVP technology  while doing research on Covid-19, sees the system as a  key tool in the  reopening process  as the nation recovers from the pandemic.
 
While no substitute for measures currently being taken – face coverings, social distancing and sanitizing – the system could add a layer safety and  assurance for customers and employees, Thorpe said.
 
Thrope sees Delaware as a prime candidate for widespread use of  technology that could give the  the state a leg up in reopening efforts of offices, schools and even smaller businesses such as restaurants.
 
The IVP system is already in operation at a restaurant in Thorpe’s hometown of Atlanta. The equipment can be installed as an add-on to heating and system  or through a portable unit.
 
The IVP system is also  place in  Galveston, Texas schools and aided the reopening of classes. The  technology underwent testing at the Galveston National Laboratory in the Texas city.
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