KONE SYSTEM TO SANITIZE STADIUM'S ESCALATOR HANDRAILS

       In an effort to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, the company that operates the Denver Broncos home stadium is installing new sanitizing equipment, including UV-C antimicrobial lights for escalator handrails, 9News reported on June 18. Stadium Management Co. has contracted with KONE on a US$270,000 deal to add the devices to 15 escalators. To allay skepticism about the efficacy of UV-C in killing germs, Dr. Karl Linden, a professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Colorado in Boulder, said, "I think it's very realistic that these ultraviolet (UV) LED lamps that are germicidal can be effective for inactivating microorganisms, such as viruses, on handrails." He went on to say that, as long as the lamps are delivering the right dose of UV-C light, each handrail will be "disinfected just as well as it would be if you wiped that surface with an alcohol wipe or sanitizing wipe." Other germ-fighting measures at the stadium will be touchless restroom fixtures; 500 hand-sanitizing stations; and disinfecting devices within the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system.