Public Spaces

Even during the pandemic, we share spaces with other people. We go shopping for groceries, visit a doctor, take a bus – and a lift – to an obligatory work meeting. When the pandemic starts to ease, we will start going to the cinema, theatres, museums, restaurants, bars, cafes, libraries, concert halls, festivals, shops, gyms, trampoline parks, swimming pools, etc., in droves again.

When dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people use the same spaces and facilities, they touch things. They sit down and move the chair. They pull the door handle, take support from a handrail in the stairs, or lean on a counter. In a shop, they push shopping trolleys or carry baskets, pick up a granola box to check its ingredients, and end up at the self-service checkout.

The unfortunate truth is that people are effective instruments for spreading pathogens. If you are carrying something as nasty as the coronavirus, each touch of yours will contaminate surfaces. When the coronavirus is no longer the threat it is now, there will still be plenty of other viruses and bacteria lurking around us, just waiting for their chance. For example, have you noticed that the common cold seems to be far less frequent now during social distancing?

Minimizing the risk with PREXELENT™

So, when we share these public spaces with other people, we are always at risk of catching something. There is no possibility of cleaning the surfaces between every touch. So how to stop bacteria and viruses from spreading?

Our PREXELENT™ technology is an effective antimicrobial agent. It can be applied as a film covering counters, touch screens, or push buttons, or it can be an ingredient in the plastic that shopping trolley handles or handrails are made of. It can even be incorporated into fabrics as fiber, making it possible to produce, for example, gloves that make it safe to touch again.