A drone dispersed clouds of disinfectant in the sky above Indonesia’s second-largest city, Surabaya, on Tuesday, a response to the COVID-19 pandemic which is catching on around the world, despite warnings from health experts.
Mass disinfections, often by workers in protective clothing resembling characters from the movie Ghostbusters, have become a common sight worldwide.
However, the visually impressive measures taken to contain the coronavirus have been criticized by disease specialists as a health hazard, as well as a waste of time.
“It’s a ridiculous image seen in many countries,” said Dale Fisher, an infectious diseases expert in Singapore who chairs the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network coordinated by the WHO. “I don’t believe it adds anything to the response and could be toxic on people. The virus does not survive for long in the environment and people do not generally touch the ground.”
Spokesman for Surabaya’s major Febriadhitya Prajatara said that the use of drones for disinfection was necessary in areas with confirmed cases, because the coronavirus “can be anywhere.”
He compared the benzalkonium chloride disinfectant, which can cause skin irritations in high concentrations, to “soap” and said it would help “weaken the virus so it won’t enter our body.”
Coronavirus is a contagious respiratory disease that spreads through droplets from the nose or mouth via coughing or sneezing. People can also become infected by contacting something contaminated before touching their own nose, mouth or eyes.
Paul Tambyah of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection said handwashing and targeted cleaning of surfaces such as elevator buttons offered better protection than mass disinfection.
“It [spraying] is probably a cheap and visible way of doing it, but careful attention to personal and environmental hygiene is probably more effective,” Tambyah said.
Indian health workers on Monday caused outrage when they used hose pipes to douse migrant workers in northern Utter Pradesh state, amid fears the movement of people from cities to the countryside risked spreading the coronavirus.
In Malaysia, under nationwide lockdown, authorities have gone on a disinfection spree in areas with high case numbers to reduce the risk of further transmission, but images of plumes of disinfectant spray fired from trucks into the air or from spray guns on to roads have riled health experts.
“Disinfecting roads is clearly not going to be impactful,” said Christopher Lee, a former Malasian deputy director-general of health and an infectious disease specialist. “Waste of resources and man hours.”
Malaysian Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah on Tuesday said that the government would be issuing guidelines to local authorities to make sure disinfections are carried out properly.
In Indonesia, telephone box-shaped disinfection chambers are being set up across the capital, Jakarta, offering passersby a quick blast to rid their clothes and skin of potential germs.
“I think it’s good... I feel sanitized after touching a lot of things from the bus... I feel well-protected,” Jakarta resident Fany Anisa said after exiting one of the chambers next to a bus stop.
The private initiative being rolled out with the support of local authorities has been criticized by one expert, who is advising the government’s coronavirus task force.
“It is not good for skin, mouth and eyes, it will cause irritation,” said Wiku Adisasmito, a professor of public health at University of Indonesia.
Leong Hoe Nam (梁浩南), an infectious diseases specialist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital in Singapore, said mass disinfections are eye-catching and might boost morale, but are not effective controls.
“It would have better effect using a water cannon to disperse people and make them go home,” he said.
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