THE Health Ministry has discouraged the use of several disinfection methods requiring people to be sprayed with disinfectant chemicals for 20-30 seconds.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said evaluations carried out by the ministry’s health technology evaluation division discovered that these methods were inadequate to disinfect a person from contracting the Covid-19 virus.

He said the division evaluated products after receiving applications for disinfections using the disinfection box, chamber, tunnel, booth, partition or gate.

Under these variable methods, a person is asked to walk through them while being sprayed with disinfectant chemicals for 20-30 seconds.

“All the models evaluated use different chemicals,” he said during his press briefing today.

“(But) a 20-30 second period is insufficient for disinfection to work. The process also could not kill the germs that are within the human body,” he said.

As such, no evidence was found that the disinfection method using such equipment was effective, he added.

He said the chemicals used could also be detrimental for the membrane mucosa, which is found in the eyes and mouth.

However, he said the ministry will continue to observe the developments of Covid-19 and will keep the people informed from time to time on the use of different disinfection methods.

It was recently reported that a mobile disinfection chamber was installed at the Rifle Range flats in Penang.

Elsewhere, other private dwellings and firms have also installed their own disinfection mechanism to “clean” individuals of Covid-19.

Indonesia and India are among the countries using disinfection chambers. – April 15, 2020.