UV light to zap coronavirus on New York subway after Donald Trump ridiculed for wanting to use it ‘inside the body’
ULTRAVIOLET lamps are to be used to zap coronavirus on the New York subway.
Bosses are spending $1million on devices that emit a bright flash of UV-C radiation to kill virus particles on trains and buses.
Although there are no plans to use it on patients, experts say UV can be effective at cleaning surfaces where people might pick up Covid-19.
New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is investing in technology to clean trains as it prepares for more passengers after lockdown.
It is testing UV lamps supplied by the start-up firm Pura, and demonstrated how they work at a train depot in Queens yesterday.
The flash is so intense it cannot be fired when passengers are on board, so it will be used as part of the nightly cleaning regime.
MTA Chairman Pat Foye said: “These UV lights efficiently kill the virus that causes Covid-19.
He said: "UV is a proven technology that has worked effectively in hospital emergency rooms, hospital operating rooms, urgent care centers, universities and first-responder locations.”
The MTA will deploy 230 of the lamps on select trains and buses from next week.
The decision follows months of tests by the MTA and David Brenner, a professor of radiation biophysics and director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University.
Manhattan’s popular Magnolia Bakery is also working with Columbia to test the tech, its owners told The New York Post.
While normal ultraviolet light is harmful to humans, the gentler far-UVC is not, according to Brenner.
Brenner and his team have tested it on lab rats for eight months and found no detrimental impact, he said earlier this week.
MTA boss Foye said the lamps are just one weapon in the agency's coronavirus-fighting arsenal.
Earlier this month, subway chiefs instituted a nightly shutdown to allow for frequent cleaning.
And Foye has suggested straphangers may even need to pre-book trips online to keep crowds down in the future.
“I don’t want to mislead everybody into thinking this is a cure-all,” he said.
"There is significant work to be done.”
Last month Trump was ridiculed for suggesting coronavirus patients should be injected with bleach or that UV light could be used "inside the body".
He was speaking at a White Hosue briefing after a Homeland Security study showed .
Trump said: "Supposing you brought the light inside the body which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. Sounds interesting."
It emerged a bioscience company is , although it is not approved for use.
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