The Coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to maintain a grip on our day to day lives, presenting challenges to the way we interact with one another. While there have been promising developments recently indicating we are approaching the flat section of the infection rate curve, there is no indication that we’ll be back to our standard mode of operations any time soon; perhaps not until a vaccine has been cleared for mass roll-out. 

Understandably, we are being approached by an ever growing number of clients regarding the use of antimicrobial powder coatings as a means to help combat the infection, as well as helping to prevent future outbreaks. Erie Powder Coatings’ AM antimicrobial line has been developed to be incredibly effective as an antibacterial and antifungal agent. Third party testing has confirmed >99.9% reduction in Escherichia Coli bacteria, as well as >99.5% reduction in Staphylococcus Aureus when exposed to substrates coated with our antimicrobial line of coatings. Antiviral efficacy against the Covid-19 virus, however, has not been confirmed. 

Covid-19 Coronavirus is an enveloped virus, so called because of its fatty outer membrane or ‘envelope’. The active substances we use have been successfully tested against other enveloped viruses, such as Influenza, Avian flu and SARS. It would be reasonable to imply that those same active substances might be effective against Covid-19, but at this stage testing against Covid-19 is not available, and so we can make no definitive claims for, nor against the use of our antimicrobial line of powders’ use to aid in the fight against Covid-19. 

Note to Canadian customers.   Erie’s AM anti-microbial are currently only available and marketed in the United States.  Health Canada (government of Canada) has decided that all silver-ion products, and virtually any anti-microbial type of coating, cannot be marketed as anti-microbial regardless of whether the producer can prove AM activity or not.  We have been working directly with the government to rectify this, as under the current circumstances this appears to be very backward and not positive for public health.

What can we do to best protect ourselves?

The mechanisms by which Covid-19 spreads are not yet entirely understood, but the consensus is that they are transmitted in the same manner as other viruses including SARS and MERS, through respiratory droplets. These might be inhaled or ingested, through hand to mouth contact. For this reason, hand hygiene is of paramount importance. Additionally, the use of masks may provide a moderate benefit in preventing the inhalation of the virus. Regular and thorough hand washing, coupled with the use of sanitizing products such as alcohol gels, is probably the best approach to minimizing infection risk. 

Current advice can be found on the websites of CDC (Centres for Disease Control), Health Canada, and WHO (World Health Organization).