Healthcare workers, facing the shortage of protective equipment such as N95 masks, are left with no other option but to reuse their gear, thus increasing the risk of spreading coronavirus infection.
However, there may be help on the way as researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University and the University of Texas Medical Branch have found that gently heating N95 masks in high relative humidity could inactivate SARS-CoV-2 virus trapped within the masks, without degrading their performance.
“This is really an issue, so if you can find a way to recycle the masks a few dozen times, the shortage goes way down,” said Stanford physicist Steven Chu, a senior author on the new paper. “You can imagine each doctor or nurse having their own personal collection of up to…