Homeless people wearing protective face masks perform yoga at the Yamuna sports complex, which has been converted into a temporary shelter for those in need, during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against COVID-19 in New Delhi, India on Thursday. Photo: AFP
The “National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER)”, situated in India’s north-eastern state of Assam, has come out with two innovative products to help the country fight COVID-19, said the Ministry of Science and Technology in a statement Saturday.
The Institute had produced an antimicrobial Face-Shield which, if worn on the face, can control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
It was designed after a thorough study to understand how viruses spread through oral, ophthalmic, olfactory and other body cavities, said the Ministry’s statement.
The Face-Shield is easy to design, and it is possible to have rapid development of the prototype.
It is also low cost, easy to wear, has a good chemical stability, non-fragile and is easy to clean with the existing sanitizers or any alcoholic disinfectant, added the statement.
The other product developed by the NIPER is a “hands-free object” that could be used to help open or close doors, windows, drawers (both vertical and horizontal), and refrigerator handle, or press elevator buttons, and laptop/desktop keyboards, including turning the switch buttons on/off.
It is believed that doors and handles are one of the carriers of novel coronavirus, and may play a key role in transmitting infection from one person to another through bare hand contacts or contaminated surface source.
