Month: May 2020

Iberia is to implement a special Covid-19 health plan, designed in collaboration with the Quirónsalud health care firm and employee representatives. The aim is to give all employees the most robust possible protection against the virus. The plan calls for blood test to detect Covid-19 antibodies in employees returning to on-site work following furloughs, as well as disinfection of all workplaces, the use of PPE and other hygiene measures, teleworking wherever possible, etc. In May alone, antibody tests performed on…

Logistics giant Agility has established its own procurement company which sources COVID-19 medical supplies and services, writes Thelma Etim. Based in Dubai, it procures ventilators, mobile testing kits and has developed a contact-tracing app for governments, hospitals and frontline healthcare workers. The logistics company’s Global Response Aid (GRA) division specializes in the sourcing of vital critical care equipment, including, thermometers, face-masks, goggles, protective suits, cleaning and sanitation supplies, and thermal detection equipment. Meanwhile, the company’s in-house-developed mobile phone app helps stop…

Liberate Medical, a company based outside of Louisville, Kentucky, won FDA Emergency Use Authorization for its VentFree Respiratory Muscle Stimulator that aims to reduce how long patients stay on ventilators. It works to keep the abdominal muscles from atrophying by delivering electric stimulation to the relevant muscles in tune with mechanical ventilation. The device delivers stimulation in a non-invasive fashion and the therapy can be initiated immediately at the start of ventilation and continue until patients are weaned off ventilation.…

COVID-19 represents one of the greatest challenges that the global healthcare system has faced in the last few centuries. The current pandemic started with a cluster of cases of unknown pneumonia in Wuhan, Hubei Province in China in December, 2019. It wasn't until the end of January when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). With more spread in different countries, the WHO declared it a pandemic on 11th of March 2020.…

Since the spread of COVID-19, medical face masks and N95 respirators have become very sought-after commodities. Unfortunately, they are also in short supply, pushing companies and researchers to develop alternative devices to filter out airborne particles. ACAMP, a non-profit organization in Alberta, Canada, collaborated with the University of Alberta to develop a respirator that is an effective alternative to N95 respirators. Their A95 respirator was tested by an engineering team at the University of Alberta and demonstrated a filtration efficiency…