The Denver Broncos social media team posted a video on Monday showing their players, masked and in shirts and shorts, training, going through a disinfection booth that fogged them up.
“Time to work,” the tweet read. “But first, we disinfect.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the video had over five million views. The message elicited an instant reaction, with very doubtful on its viability to be an effective tool in preventing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But does it really work? Medical experts cast serious doubts.
“While walk-in disinfection booths can give players some peace of mind, the effectiveness of this and other mass disinfection methods against the COVID-19 virus is yet to be substantiated by scientific data, ”Dr. Choukri Ben Mamoun, professor of medicine (infectious disease) and microbial pathogenesis at the Yale School of Medicine wrote to USA TODAY Sports in an email. “It is clear that if a player is contagious when entering the pit, there is a very good chance that he will still be contagious when leaving the pit and will transmit the virus to other players.”
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the “primary and most important mode of transmission” of the new coronavirus is person-to-person contact.
The CDC also updated its guidelines in May to add that “it is possible” to be infected by surface transmission, “but this is not believed to be the primary means of spreading the virus.”
Since an infected person – asymptomatic or not – would still carry the virus in their nose or mouth after browsing the booth, Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, professor of pediatrics (infectious diseases) and health research and policy at the Stanford University said it was essential for Denver to implement strict testing, hygiene and social distancing measures.
“The major risk is not on the pitch, but what they bring from the outside,” Maldonado told USA TODAY Sports. “What they’re trying to do, I guess, is if someone is introducing the virus, how much can they lower that risk? I guess that’s just what “they call this last mile. It’s this last little insurance, but it must accompany all the other stages.”
Team spokesman Erich Schubert said the Broncos are treating the disinfection booth as a last line of defense.
Players wake up each morning with a text message inviting them to answer health screening questions, Schubert added. They should then take their temperature at home with thermometers provided by the team. If the reading is below the established threshold, then players are allowed to proceed to the facility. Upon arrival, they will then undergo an on-site temperature check before taking a daily COVID-19 test.
Coaches, support staff and anyone else who interacts with players are also tested daily.
Denver has space out all meeting areas to adhere to social distancing guidelines and is still holding virtual meetings to reduce potential exposures. For example, attendees at the first team reunion on Sunday were split between two locations, half in the Broncos country house and the other half in the team boardroom.
In order to help bolster social distancing, Schubert said players wear a tracker that flashes if it registers the person wearing it as being too close to another person wearing a tracker. Trackers can also help with contact tracing. If a player is infected, the team can use data from trackers that determine who the infected player has come in close contact with before.
While players and staff are indoors, masks are needed and the Broncos have also invested in providing resources and education on best practices, Schubert said.
The product sprayed on the players is a non-toxic derivative of the hand sanitizer called microSURE, manufactured by the company SKN BioPharma.
When the spray dries, it creates “those tiny spikes to pierce the membrane walls” of bacteria, viruses and microorganisms, said Dr. Erwin Lo, neurosurgeon and co-founder of microSURE at USA TODAY Sports. He said that on soft surfaces like the skin, he recommends applying it “once every few days”.
“It’s the drying process that occurs within minutes that sets up this long-lasting, in some cases permanent barrier,” Lo added, before saying the company’s studies have shown the compound can survive. several washes on clothes.
Lo claims to have biosafety level 3 lab data showing that microSURE “unequivocally kills” the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Citing the need to protect proprietary information, Lo declined to disclose the compounds that make up the spray.
Schubert said the Broncos don’t have a partnership with microSURE, but it is being used on an informal trial basis with no set timeline. The team will assess the feedback from medical staff and players and decide whether or not to continue using it.
But as NFL teams continue to seek a competitive advantage to protect their players from the coronavirus, medical experts say there is one largely overlooked aspect to this discussion: Players must also take aggressive action away from facilities. team to mitigate transmission.
“In addition to learning their playbooks, they have to learn the other playbook while they are at home,” said Maldonado. “This is how to stay healthy.”
