Coronavirus: Hong Kong scientists look into disinfection and reuse of face masks
- Top communicable disease expert reveals how the city is trying to handle shortage of protective gear
- N95 respirators worn by hospital workers could be cleaned with hydrogen peroxide vapour
Hong Kong scientists are looking into disinfecting and reusing masks amid a Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated by a persistent shortage of protective gear, a top infectious disease expert has revealed.
Professor Yuen Kwok-yung from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) said the options were being studied for both N95 respirators, which are used by health care workers when handling suspected and confirmed coronavirus patients, and standard surgical masks.
“We have to be innovative, because shortages cannot be met within a short period of time,” Yuen said in an online dialogue session organised by HKU on Thursday evening. “All these masks would not suddenly fall from the sky.”
Yuen said experiments were being done to see whether N95 respirators could be disinfected with hydrogen peroxide vapour and used again.
“This can be done. These N95 respirator masks can be used many times afterwards,” Yuen said. “We of course label all these masks, make sure that they are sent to the same person again after disinfection.”
Hong Kong would not be the first place to clean and reuse the face coverings. In the United States in late March, the Food and Drug Administration authorised a company to decontaminate N95 respirators using a similar method, with each mask being reused no more than 20 times.