Sales of a portable sanitisation device which is being used to help control the spread of Covid-19 has seen sales in Ireland surge by 400% since the start of the year.
Sanity System only began operations in Ireland in late 2018 and in the 14 months up to December 2019 they had sold 200 devices.
But so far this year the company has sold 1,000 of its devices.
The devices use ozone gas to kill bacteria and viruses which may be present in the air and on surfaces.
The company recently began working with the HSE to help it with the cleansing of hundreds of high-risk vehicles, while it also works with other state agencies, local authorities and private companies.
Sanity System's machines come in different sizes and can be used for rooms and vehicles. The machines saturate the area to be treated with ozone gas, a scientifically proven method of killing bacteria and viruses.
The company said that experiments carried out on the SARS virus - which is 80% similar to the coronavirus in genome sequences - showed that ozone gas is effective in eradicating 99% of infection.
The treatment system does not require any specialist training and only takes 45 minutes for a mid-sized room. However, the room must be empty during the sanitisation process as ozone is a volatile gas.
Sanity System's sales director Robert Kane said that while demand for the devices - which can be bought or rented was originally more focused on the automotive sector, queries are now flooding in from the health, office and small business sectors.
"Our system sanitises all surfaces including difficult to reach places in a short time frame, operates in an environmentally friendly way, requires no chemicals and doesn't damage materials, " Mr Kane said.
"By saturating the room or vehicle we can significantly eliminate any virus and bacteria in the room including Ecoli, SARS, MRSA and MERS. We're in talks with other emergency services here while we're also fielding international queries," he added.
Paul Candon, Managing Director of Bunzl Irish Merchants - which distributes Sanity Systems in Ireland - said the system could play a key role in helping a business or organisation to contain the spread of the virus.
"If you are operating a nursing home, a health centre, an office-based business or a hotel, the health and safety of your clients, employees and customers is your number one priority. If one person is confirmed as having the virus you need a system for sanitising that room or area that you can have full confidence in. This is critical not just from a health but from a business continuity perspective," he added.
