In our everyday society, people have a lot of concerns. One of the biggest ones seems to be not getting infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Omicron variant is making the coronavirus spread faster across the world like never before, which means that the world could use more ways to say for sure when COVID is around.
According to New York Post, there’s a new wearable clip invented that can tell if somebody has been exposed to the coronavirus. Researchers from the Yale School of Public Health (New Haven, Connecticut) are the ones responsible for developing it.
How it works
The incredibly handy device works by capturing virus-laden aerosols that will land on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface.
You still need testing kits for COVID if you intend to use the new clip. The new invention can be used complementary, and it’s even reusable by changing the polymer films.
Krystal Godri Pollitt is the leader of the research team, and he explained more for Fox Business:
With this clip we can detect low levels of virus that are well below the estimated SARS-CoV-2 infectious dose,
The Fresh Air Clip serves to identify exposure events early, alerting people to get tested or quarantine. The clip is intended to help prevent viral spread, which can occur when people do not have this kind of early detection of exposure.
If we take a look at COVID stats brought by worldometers.info, we realize the incredible magnitude of the Omicron variant. For instance, the USA reported over 779,000 COVID infections yesterday, January 21. On the same day, 2,777 people from the country lost their lives in the battle with the coronavirus. Hopefully, they’re in a better place up there in Heaven.
The new study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters.