COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – A legislative committee has approved spending $ 313,000 on devices that clean air from viruses and mold in the six buildings of the South Carolina State House.
Authorities expect ionizing air devices to be installed next month, reported the Post and the Charleston Courier.
The state prison system has already installed some of the machines and said that they immediately reduced the spread of COVID-19 among prisoners and workers.
The devices can eliminate the coronavirus, but also other more common viruses that cause disease. They can also eliminate mold, an important consideration in a complex where each building is at least 40 years old, according to the state’s Secretariat for Administration.
The agency that oversees maintenance on many buildings in the state is also evaluating how much it will cost to place the machines in 46 other facilities it manages, said Department of Administration spokesman Kelly Coakley.
Members of the Joint Bond Review Committee who approved the placement of the machines in the six state buildings, in a parking lot, and in the South Carolina Supreme Court building across the street, think that all devices can be paid for with cash. federal relief COVID-19.
The same committee set aside $ 1.7 million in December to place ionizing air devices in 21 state prisons and administrative buildings, and the number of COVID-19 cases has dropped, Corrections Department director Bryan Stirling told the newspaper.
“It works perfectly. We proved it works, ”said Stirling. “For the money we save people so they don’t get sick, it’s more than paid for itself.”
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