NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Soon you might be able to know how prominent COVID is wherever you are.
Yale researchers have developed a device that can tell you this information instantly. Eventually, it might become an additional form of PPE.
"This is the clip right here," said Dr. Krystal Pollitt, of the Yale School of Public Health. "You can see it's quite small. Easy to wear."
Able to clip to your clothing and be virtually unnoticeable, it's called the Fresh Air Clip.
"It’s a passive device," Pollitt explained. "So, there are no electronics inside. We just have a polymer film and that’s what we used to collect airborne SARS CoV2 virus."
There were multiple phases for the study that was published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters.
"This was a clip that was originally used to measure airborne chemicals," Pollitt said of the clip.
Then, when the pandemic started nearly two years ago, they re-purposed the design to be able to collect aerosols and droplets.
"To make sure that it was functioning properly, we first started using these devices at Yale New Haven Hospital placing these into the ICU rooms of COVID positive patients," Pollitt said.
It was then back into a lab for a deep dive on how well these clips collect the virus.
"In the research that was published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, there were 62 people that we reported on wearing the device," Pollitt noted.
They started in places like healthcare facilities, restaurants and community organizations.
"We found it (COVID) most prominent and at the highest levels in restaurants," Pollitt said, noting restaurant employees wore the clips.
She says there is no timeline yet for when the public may have access to these devices.
"We’re also really interested in thinking ahead. and thinking how it could also tell us about exposure to other common respiratory viruses," Pollitt explained.
Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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