uHoo Virus Index provides enhanced commercial air quality monitoring for business and educational productivity

Air Quality Data Gives Insight Into Virus ‘Survival’

Following the release of its latest white paper, uHoo, the developers of a best-in-class commercial air monitor, has today confirmed that all its uHoo Aura devices will now include Virus Index, an advanced data mining tool that provides information regarding indoor air quality and a real-time risk assessment of virus survival and transmission. Recent research has proven the correlation between air quality and coronavirus. The Virus Index ensures business and educational venues can monitor air quality and react to a potential virus conducive environment.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, air quality management within a business environment has become a high priority. Business owners and managers must be proactive in monitoring environmental conditions that can encourage an airborne virus to thrive and have the data required to take action to ensure healthy staff or students and reduce absence rates.

From common colds, influenza or more recently COVID-19, each virus that enters a business or educational venue has the strength to ‘infect’ multiple people and cause disruption. Using air monitoring and actionable data, businesses can reduce the risk of virus survival and drastically reduce spread – ensuring that productivity is unaffected.

“Following the launch of the uHoo Aura, enhancing the uHoo Virus Index was an essential step in our development,” said Dustin Onghanseng, Founder of uHoo. “We identified through our research that understanding the parameters of ‘virus survival’ would be a major part of getting businesses back into the workplace post the pandemic lockdown. Providing business and school environments with a device that provides essential and useful data was critical in bringing people back.”

About the Virus Index

The uHoo Aura monitors the parameters which influence the survival and transmission of viruses. The uHoo team observed and studied scientific evidence that the quality of indoor air is fundamental to the survival and transmission of viruses of all types. The team realised that uHoo’s monitors were already reporting the parameters which influence on the survival and transmission of viruses.

Taking into account those key parameters, they developed a world-first algorithm to determine if the air quality would be likely to enhance or impede the survival and transmission of viruses.

Following further research, uHoo’s Virus Index is a more advanced data mining tool that provides simple to understand feedback directly to a mobile device or web dashboard. Using a numerical and ‘traffic light’ system, business owners can optimise the workplace air quality by adjusting their HVAC system.

Green ‘Good’ 1-3 – Virus survival is low and the virus spreading in the air is unlikely.

Olive ‘Mild’ 4-6 – Virus survival is moderate and the virus spreading in the air is possible but air quality poses little to almost no direct health risk for people who are usually not sensitive to air pollution. Sensitive people may experience health effects. More attention to air quality should be given and actions to improve air quality are recommended.

Amber ‘Bad’ 7-8 – Virus survival is prolonged and the likelihood of the virus spreading in the air is higher. Air quality poses some health risks. Critical assessment of your air quality is necessary and actions to improve air quality is required

Red ‘Severe’ 9-10 – Virus survival is high and the virus spreading in the air is likely. Air quality would affect most people and actions to improve air quality is necessary.

About the uHoo Aura

Unlike other air quality management devices, uHoo Aura with the Virus Index monitors 13 different parameters (which can be upscaled to 15). It provides data on more than just humidity, temperature, carbon dioxide, in fact, it also monitors lethal carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and four sizes of dust particles, among others.

A simple to install plug and play device that provides users with a dashboard for data monitoring, it is not only essential to virus monitoring and detection, but also to general air quality management. Making the workplace or student venue a more comfortable place to work or study is conducive to a more productive workforce overall. Knowing if the venue is too warm and humid in Summer, has too many pollen particles during Hayfever season or is too cold and damp in Winter enables management to work with HVAC installation teams to create an optimal work/study environment that is beneficial for all.

To find out more about the uHoo Aura and the Virus index visit uHoo.

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