Visitors to the Thennampalayam vegetable market in Tiruppur, the country’s knitwear hub, were surprised on Wednesday as they were asked to walk through a ‘disinfection tunnel’ before entering the sprawling ground to shop.
The ‘disinfection tunnel’ is part of efforts by the Tiruppur District administration to prevent further spread of coronavirus. People who enter the market are asked to wash their hands and walk through the ‘disinfection tunnel’ for three to four seconds during which sprayers overhead sprinkle protective substance on them.
Once they come out of the ‘disinfection tunnel’, the visitors are allowed into the market. A video of people walking through the ‘tunnel’ posted by Tiruppur District Collector K Vijayakarthikeyan on Twitter went viral on social media.
Officials said visitors to the market are allowed to go through the ‘tunnel’ one by one after ensuring that there is enough physical distancing between them. The ‘tunnel’ was designed with help from Young Indians and CII.
Though the ‘disinfection tunnel’ is not a substitute for hand washing and other protective measures, Vijayakarthikeyan said it would certainly supplement the regular disinfection measures over the surface.
“The tunnel adds value to our efforts to prevent further outspread of COVID-19. The solution used to spray is 1 per cent of sodium hypochlorite in 1 ppm and it has been tested and reviewed by a team of doctors,” the Collector told DH.
Responding to questions about the efficacy of the system and whether chemicals can be sprayed on humans, Vijayakarthikeyan said the unit has been tested and passed by doctors. This is probably the first time such a ‘tunnel’ has been installed in India, while similar methods have been used in Thailand and in Ordu city in Turkey in the past few weeks to contain COVID-19.
He said the unit will consume 50 liters of the solution for one hour and can run for 16 hours in one go. Vijayakarthikeyan said the cost of a unit is Rs 90,000 and the district administration has planned to install 10 such units at various places where people come in large numbers.
The district collector insisted that the ‘tunnel’ will only supplement existing measures like washing hands, wearing masks and maintaining physical distance in preventing the further spread of coronavirus.