Staff members lie imported food on a disinfection machine at a supervised warehouse for imported cold chain food in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Jan. 22, 2021. Two supervised warehouses for imported cold chain food have been put into use in Zhengzhou on Jan. 20. All of the imported cold chain food entering Zhengzhou would be tested and disinfected here.Photo:Xinhua

 
China's first photocatalytic cold chain virus elimination equipment has been approved by national experts and the technical acceptance process has been completed, media reports said. It will provide a convenient, rapid and harmless technical solution for the sterilization of cold chain food.

The news came as China faces a new challenge in the epidemic situation, with international cold chain logistics becoming a major risk factor in terms of imported cases. The mass sterilization work at ports has caused traffic congestion and put increasing pressure on customs clearance.

The new equipment, which is designed to terminate COVID-19 in five seconds, is part of the emergency scientific and research project for COVID-19 prevention in cold chain logistics. It was jointly developed by Fuzhou University and Fusshia Tech, Science and Technology Daily reported. The product is suitable for rapid sterilization of bulk products, and is expected to greatly shorten the sterilization process.

Furthermore, since it is a physical disinfection product, the sterilization process does not produce any pollutants, and has no impact on human health and safety, the report said.

Several rounds of disinfection experiments conducted by domestic laboratories also suggested that compared with the common cold chain virus elimination technology, this new method has a better effect in dealing with the novel coronavirus on the surface of smooth materials. It also fully meets the requirements of the National Disinfection Technical Specification.

Killing the novel coronavirus by light is becoming one of the latest directions for technological research. The application of ultraviolet light in the field of elimination of the novel coronavirus has been acknowledged by domestic and foreign authorities. In the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia released by the National Health Commission, it stated that the virus is sensitive to ultraviolet light and heat.

The ultraviolet sterilization industry has a lot of room for development, especially given the importance of prevention and control of imported cases, industry analysts said. It is expected that by 2021, the size of China's ultraviolet sterilizer market will be worth 7.3 billion yuan.