Catalan company develops first Covid-19 ‘deactivating’ walk-through tunnel

A Catalan company has developed the first safe and effective Covid-19 deactivating walk-through tunnel. 

The device named CA-VID was created by Epitécnica, a firm specializing in disinfection equipment, and functions by spraying dry mist on the person passing through the tunnel for 15 seconds, leaving the virus inactive. 

It does this without the use of ozone or any kind of disinfectant harmful to people’s health or the environment. 

Pablo Donadio, CEO of Epitécnica, explains that the tunnel is designed to be installed in spaces where many people gather, such as fairs, airports, hotels or restaurants. “While waiting for the vaccine, this is an active solution that effectively reduces infections,” he says.

Donadio explains that with 15-second vaporization, it is possible to reduce the contagion capacity of the virus that we carry predominantly in clothes. 

Although the device doesn’t make the virus disappear entirely, it does lose its ability to spread in a set space by "limiting" the viral load of all people who pass through the tunnel and enter a "clean zone". 

“We don’t touch the virus RNA, we just remove the spicules that are on the outermost layer, preventing it from infecting any living cells,” he adds.

Epitécnica has been manufacturing disinfection equipment for 30 years, and readjusted their production to work on devices that would deactivate the virus at the beginning of the pandemic. 

The project was done with help of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, with whom they developed both the "electronic brain" of the tunnel and the solution that deactivates the virus.

The tunnel has already been successfully tested at the Fira del Disc in Barcelona and the Sitges Film Festival, although sales of the device have not yet started.