Los Angeles announces decontamination center for N95 masks
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva on Monday announced the opening of a COVID-19 Regional Decontamination Center, the first of its kind in the country, CBS Los Angeles reports. The center, which will utilize an airtight decontamination center the size of a small dishwasher, will vaporize highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide to decontaminate equipment like N95 masks for reuse up to 20 times, in accordance with CDC guidelines.
Personal protective equipment like N95 masks have been in high demand and short supply at hospitals and clinics across the globe amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The equipment will accommodate 10,000 masks per cycle and the department will run multiple decontamination cycles each day, Villanueva said.
During his Monday news briefing, Villanueva also announced that while 61 deputies have tested positive for coronavirus, there have been no new cases reported in the last few days.
The sheriff also said 79 inmates have tested positive, but the majority have recovered and are back in the general population.
