Hi-tech helps firms carry on

Improvised solution: A man collecting his food order as a worker places it in a basket to prevent human contact following the coronavirus outbreak in Beijing. — AP

CHANGSHA: After the installation of an “ozone disinfection chamber, ” Wang Xiangqian felt relieved to resume work amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

As an employee of Broad Clean Air Technology Co Ltd in the Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone in central China’s Hunan Province, Wang disinfects himself in the 5 sq m ozone disinfection chamber before entering the industrial park.

More than 2,000 employees in the industrial park where Wang’s company is located have returned to work so far.

Walking into the ozone disinfection chamber, two electrostatic air purifiers in the confined space release ozone, killing bacteria and viruses.

“Although we have asked all the staff to wear masks, we still need to do more, ” said Guo Jinglong, the general manager of the user centre of the company.

Guo said on Feb 9 that the firm produced two “ozone disinfection chambers” overnight and used them in the industrial parks in Changsha, capital of the province and Xiangyin county.

“Compared to chlorinated disinfectants and ultraviolet disinfection, ozone disinfection has full coverage and super-cleanliness, avoiding residues that cause secondary pollution, ” Guo said.

“The ozone disinfection chamber can help enterprises with epidemic prevention after their employees resume work, ” Guo said, adding that many enterprises consulted them to purchase it.

Three kilometers away in another industrial park, at lunchtime, the road is almost empty, with only a driver-less delivery vehicle named “Super Shadow” running between the office buildings.

“Hello, your food has arrived at the downstairs of your building, please scan the QR code to fetch the meal, ” read one text message sent to the customer who ordered the meal over the phone.

Workers as well as employees in the industrial park then came to the driver-less vehicle and retrieved the lunches they had booked through WeChat.

“Super Shadow” was not designed to deliver food, but is a logistics vehicle developed by Xingshen Intelligent Technology Co Ltd.

The company focuses on the core technology of unmanned driving, providing technologies, products and overall solutions related to unmanned driving.

“After returning to work, we decided to use unmanned vehicles to deliver meals to reduce the chances of cross-infection when gathering, ” said Li Rui, chief operating officer of Xingshen. — Xinhua