Volunteers build UV cabinets to sanitize COVID-19 PPE

Some of the UV cabinets built by Paniqui town volunteers. PHOTO FROM ANGEL FERRER

BAMBAN, TARLAC — Volunteers in Paniqui town are producing devices to disinfect personal protective equipment (PPE) using ultraviolet rays to keep health workers from running out of PPE in their fight against COVID-19.

The group used aluminum sheets and two 36-watt germicidal lamps that emit ultraviolet C light.

The volunteers based their build on a prototype developed and shared on social media by University of the Philippines Prof. Jun Ballesteros and lawyer James Biron, said one of the volunteers, 38-year-old Kathleen Roxas.

The design was for 7-foot tall UVC germicidal cabinets, Roxas said.

The short-wave ultraviolet light disrupts bacteria and most viruses, she said.

The group started working on the cabinets on April 15 and has donated two germicidal cabinets to the Paniqui General Hospital and a rural health unit in Paniqui town.

Each cabinet can sanitize up to 30 PPE, and has shelves for face shields, face masks, gloves and even mobile telephones most medical workers use.

Roxas said the group did research on UVC germicidal lamp and searched for companies that sell these but decided to “make them ourselves.”

Roxas is niece of Paniqui Mayor Leonardo Roxas. She and her friends—Tenten Manoais, Saio Manaois, Rizal Gomez and Angel Ferrer—spent their own money for the project.

Concern that too many health workers are becoming vulnerable to coronavirus had driven the group to build the UV cabinets.

The volunteers are currently building germicidal cabinets for the Tarlac Provincial Hospital in Tarlac City and for Capas town, heeding a request made by Tine Catacutan, daughter of Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan.

Materials for the cabinets were purchased and delivered to Paniqui by the Capas local government.

Some of the UV cabinets built by Paniqui town volunteers. PHOTO FROM ANGEL FERRER

Edited by TSB