London music venue to trial air-cleaning system
16 December 2020, 12:29
The 100 Club on Oxford Street will be the first location to use high intensity UVC light to combat the COVID-19 virus.
London's 100 Club venue is to trial a new air-conditioning technology that hopes to combat the COVID-19 virus.
The Pathogen Reduction System claims to fit into a building's air-conditioning system and uses high intensity UVC light to inactivate "99.99%" of airborne pathogens such as COVID-19, MRSA, measles, TB and the common flu virus.
The British-made system will begin a series of trials in January 2021, the first of which will be at thel legendary venue on London's Oxford Street.
The 100 Club is located in a basement on Oxford Street and opened in 1942. Artists who have appeared at the club include The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, Florence + The Machine Amy Winehouse, The Specials, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Queens Of The Stone Age, Paul Weller, Oasis, Suede and thousands more.
The 100 Club's owner Jeff Horton says of the trial: “We are very excited to be the pilot venue. This is an opportunity to be leading the way in getting Grassroots Music Venues and the entire hospitality industry open again after the dire consequences of COVID-19.
"We also see this as an opportunity to future proof the venue should the world be brought to its knees again at some point down the road by another pandemic.”
The company behind the device says that it could help many other sectors from retail, to transport, offices and leisure facilities like gyms and cinemas, to open sooner and more safely.
Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd said: “Risk management is currently built around Hands, Face, Space, which act together to prevent the spread of infection. While effective it’s impossible to enforce in a live music setting and, with capacity reduced to an average 24% of normal, financially impractical to impose.
“Using the Pathogen Reduction System as part of a ‘Test, Clean, Prevent’ approach creates the opportunity for economically viable increased capacity events."
