Dream City Church, the north Phoenix megachurch set to host a Donald Trump rally on June 23, claims it has solved the pandemic problem in its auditorium, making it safe for anyone who wants to attend.
In a video posted on Sunday, Senior Pastor Luke Barnett and Chief Operations Officer Brendon Zastrow announce happily that the church has installed a new air-purification system that kills 99.9 percent of the coronavirus. The technology, they say, was developed by members of the church.
A megachurch is hosting Trump's rally on Tuesday in Phoenix. These two con-men falsely claim they've installed a system which kills 99.9% of COVID-19.
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) June 22, 2020
Arizona's Coronavirus numbers are surging. Madness...pic.twitter.com/6mgM8BLhO9
Despite their evangelical fervour for this technology, caution is clearly warranted. Consider first what the fine print of Clean Air EXP, the company behind this marvel, says:
"COVID-19 REPORT: Lab tests confirm that CleanAir EXP eliminates 99.9% of coronavirus from the air in less than 10 minutes.*"Faith, it has been said, can move mountains. As of this writing, it remains to be seen if faith in an unproven technology can conquer Covid-19.
The footnote states, "* Biosafety lab analysis performed on active coronavirus 229E test surrogate."
Coronavirus 229E is one of the viruses responsible for the common cold that's often used in virus studies.
But even if the technology can eliminate the surrogate virus in 10 minutes, such studies are done in controlled laboratory settings. They don’t necessarily apply to something like the interior of a megachurch. How much air a system can process in a set time would play a role. Clean Air EXP's website states that its home system takes a few hours to purify the air: "Most homes see a 90% reduction of particulates and contaminants within 4 hours, and 99.8% reduction in 6 hours or less."
A larger, commercial system can purify more air than a home unit, presumably. But it's hard to see how 99 percent of COVID-19 could be eliminated from the church auditorium before people arrive. Also, saying attendees would be "safe and protected" when they come to the rally overstates the ability of any air-purifying system to prevent transmission by infected people in a crowd.
.. I can barely wait to see how this plays out. I just find myself thinking that the majority of Trumpaloonies aint exactly the sharpest knife in any drawer.. As far as any or many of them adhering to whatever the State Law of Arizona has currently decreed re 'Best Practice' or whatever Dr Fauci suggests.. well, its a long shot. I suspect Darwin's Law will get a solid workout in.. and any of Trump's upper echelon, droogs, minions.. may get thrown into the Covid-19 stewpot. I do hope William Barr comes along on Air Force One ! Anyone seen Giuliani lately ?
ReplyDeleteAlong with Barr, Sal, I would suggest that other indispensables join Trump on his jaunt: Jared, Ivanka and the new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, come immediately to mind. I wish them all the 'best'.
DeleteIt's hard to make any sense out of this. The church should be thoroughly disinfected in advance but that security begins to erode as people enter the building. It's the attendees who are the threat, not the air inside the church. Some of those who show up may be shedding virus as they exhale, sneeze or touch pews, door handles and such.
ReplyDeleteEven the EPA says ozone generators that create ionized air are not effective against Covid-19. https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/will-ozone-generator-protect-me-and-my-family-covid-19
Thanks, Mound, but I have a feeling that the 'true believers' are immune, in their fervoured minds, not only to Covid-19, but also scientific fact.
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