Mysore/Mysuru: A second disinfection tunnel has been installed within the premises of K.R. Hospital last evening as a measure to prevent further spread of novel Coronavirus. The tunnel will ensure ‘decrease’ in the viral load on the body surface area. The first such tunnel was installed at Dasara Exhibition Grounds vegetable market recently. 

The second tunnel has been sponsored by Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Foundation and was inaugurated by member of erstwhile Mysore royal family Pramoda Devi Wadiyar. The Foundation has sponsored two disinfectant tunnels and after K.R. Hospital, one more tunnel will be installed in the premises of Cheluvamba Hospital. The District Administration is installing another such tunnel in the Lalitha Mahal Grounds vegetable market. 

The State-run K.R. Hospital is a hub of COVID-19 testing, treatment and isolation. With the state-of-the-art Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) at the Department of Microbiology in Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (K.R. Hospital) that has been authorised to test COVID-19 samples, it is necessary to install such tunnels in the K.R. Hospital premises. 

The tunnel is a walk-through structure and consists of three sets (a total of three nozzles each) of high-pressure micro-nozzle sprinklers fitted on the top and sides of the tunnel’s steel frame. The sprinklers spray less than 1 percent of Sodium Hypochlorite solution, which is enough to destroy the virus on the surface. This is the permissible limit as per World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The storage tank can work continuously and     disinfect people. 

The tunnel has been built to sanitise people within 20 seconds from any possible infectant bacteria and virus as people walk inside the tunnel between three to five seconds. It is completely safe and will not cause any dermatological or other health-related ailments. The tunnel will not eradicate the virus inside the body, but will definitely decrease the viral load on the body surface, experts said. 

Additional Commissioner of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) N.M. Shashikumar, MCC Health Officer Dr. D.G. Nagaraju, Mysore Medical College and Research Institute Dean Dr. C.P. Nanjaraj, Ramesh Kikkeri of Clean Mysuru Group, C.R. Hanumanth, Proprietor of DRC Cinemas and others were present.