In the afternoon of March 24th, a news came out of the 60th COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control press conference in Beijing. Liu, 40, was diagnosed as COVID-19 on the 23rd. The reason was suspected to be caused by walking up the stairs. . This really surprised me.
According to the information at the press conference, Liu, a neighbor downstairs of Liu, arrived in Beijing from the UK on March 5 and lived in isolation for observation on the 9th. He was diagnosed as COVID-19 on the 12th. An epidemiological investigation found that Liu was likely to have contracted the stairwell contaminated by Lee before March 11 and became ill. This means that although Liu had never met with Li, he had been attacked by a small droplet of COVID-19 virus or aerosol that Li had distributed to the stairwell. Among them, aerosols are more likely. Aerosols containing viruses, less than 10 microns in diameter, are invisible to the naked eye, can be suspended in the air for more than half an hour, and can stick to the surface of objects. Liu may have inhaled the aerosol or touched the objects in the stairwell to be indirectly infected.
So, how much contagious is the aerosol falling on the object? Recently, someone from Kyoto University School of Medicine conducted a test and found that the survival time of COVID-19 virus aerosol on different materials is different: on cardboard used in packaging boxes, it can survive for 24 hours; on copper materials The surface can survive for 4 hours; on the stainless steel surface, it can survive for 2 days; on the plastic surface, it can survive for more than 3 days.
The results of this research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, should be said to be serious scientific research with high reliability. The article mentions that copper naturally has anti-microbial properties. After chemical reaction between copper ions and water in the air, a kind of free radical can be generated, which destroys the protein shell and internal nucleic acid of the virus. In other words, copper materials have an active anti-virus effect, while cardboard, plastic, and stainless steel do not have an active anti-virus function. Cardboard has a loose texture, and its fibers can absorb water, which causes the virus’s shell to dry out and the virus can’t survive for long. Stainless steel and plastic surfaces are hard and smooth, have no pores, and the virus will not easily lose water, so it will maintain structural stability and activity for longer. The study also found that COVID-19 virus is not easy to survive in porous materials containing fiber.
This study also compared the infectivity of COVID-19 virus and SARS virus at different stages. In the early stages of onset, COVID-19 patients had more viruses in the upper respiratory tract, and the number of viruses in many asymptomatic patients was similar to that of patients with existing symptoms; while the number of viruses in the respiratory tract of patients with SARS did not peak until about 10 days after the onset of symptoms . It can be seen that the COVID-19 virus is more cunning.
The COVID-19 virus also mutates and iterates. Until then, this cunning has been widely known. Of course, protective measures such as high-temperature treatment at 56 ° C for 30 minutes, UV irradiation for 1 hour, and killing liquids such as medical alcohol are also widely known. The above study also found that in closed environments, the number of live viruses in aerosols declined slowly.
Seeing this information, the author thinks that it should be of great value to auto companies. Many people may say that at the time when the epidemic is tight, it is sufficient for car companies to cross-border to make masks, protective clothing and ventilators. A year or two later, once the vaccines and special effects drugs came out, this “World War” was over. The car companies were engaged in antivirus, so far across the border, isn’t this necessary? I think it’s a bit short-sighted to see things like this.
Now, no one knows when this “World War” will end, and no one dares to assert that there will be no new virus raging the world in the future. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize the long-term and complex nature of this “battle” and to prepare for a protracted war. In addition, SARS in 2003 should be linked to the current COVID-19 epidemic to look at the problem. Fighting against new viruses may be a long-term task and demand. Auto companies should find new business opportunities from this disaster. A few days ago, some independent brand car companies took the initiative to launch an air-conditioning system with N95 mask filtering capabilities, and determined to work with other industries to build a world-leading air health performance in cars. This is undoubtedly praiseworthy and affirmative. Judging from the actual situation, let alone the other industries, the domestic air-conditioning industry alone is much more aggressive than the automotive industry in seizing the great opportunity to combat the COVID-19 epidemic and reshape new advantages. Sometimes the inertia of the automotive industry is still great.
It should also be recognized that the evolutionary history of the car itself is a history of continuously meeting the needs of the times and thus continuously evolving. In terms of active safety, from horns and headlights to ABS, to body stability control systems, etc .; in terms of passive safety, from seat belts to energy-absorbing bodies, to safety air curtains, etc .; in terms of emission control, from three-way catalysts From electronically controlled injection and electronic valve control to new energy vehicles. Even air-conditioning systems are no longer simply heating indoor air and cooling indoor air, and some already have functions of filtering particulate matter, decomposing pollen and odor, and moisturizing and antibacterial. At present, the COVID-19 epidemic is raging around the world, and the market has put forward a very urgent anti-virus demand for the third house outside the mobile house, home, and office. Can aggressive car companies remain indifferent?
The reason why the author has tirelessly introduced the research results in the front of the article is to alert the car companies that develop air health technology in the car: when the two technical directions of blocking and rapid elimination are vigorous, do not let the car Material innovation becomes a blind spot. Perhaps, the materials used in the car have begun a revolution secretly brewing. At the same time, I also want to remind consumers that it is time to feel more comfortable with copper and fiber. It is time to give up the preference for chrome bright bars, large screens and other materials that have a longer life span.