In the race to reopen schools, districts across California and the country are beefing up safety measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus — more masks, more sanitizers, new plastic barriers. As part of the effort, Sacramento City Unified School District purchased more than $6 million worth of classroom air cleaners and replacement parts in November, at a cost of $688 per device. But several experts have identified potential concerns about the devices, saying the air cleaners that Sacramento City schools purchased are overpriced, inefficient and have unnecessary and unproven technology.
Sac City Unified purchased 6,000 V-PAC SC air cleaners, manufactured by Ultraviolet Devices, Inc., from Johnson Controls. The units, to be deployed in every classroom and common space, have “the best technology for mitigating COVID-19 at a fraction of the cost of other compatible portable filtration devices, such as HEPA filtration devices,” a November school board report stated.
“The COVID-19 virus is destroyed using an Ultraviolet-C light instead of trapping the virus in a filter,” the district report stated… Read Full Article
