Thanks to the collaboration of Partners HealthCare and Battelle, a nonprofit science and technology development company, hospitals in Massachusetts now have a massive mask sterilizing machine that can sanitize up to 80,000 N95 masks per day. The mask decontamination center location is in the Boston area. It’s the fourth one now to be installed in America. The machine is being installed in an abandoned K-Mart store in Somerville.
They expect to have it up and running this week. Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders announced during a State House news conference that:
Battelle’s Critical Care Decontamination System will up and running at the vacant KMart site in Somerville by Monday, [April 6th]. The Battelle uses FDA-approved N95 decontamination technology. It is the fourth site operational in the United States. We moved very quickly to secure Massachusetts as the fourth location.”
Gov. Charlie Baker said the projection of coronavirus cases is expected to surge in the area – with peak hospitalizations forecasted between April 10 through 20. So, the center would be ready right in time.
NOW: @MassGovernor says during the expected surge in MA from April 7-17th they expect the number of confirmed cases of #coronavirus will be betw. 47,000-172,000. That would be 0.07- 2.5% of the total population of MA.
Models based off what happened in Wuhan, China #7news
— Amaka Ubaka (@AmakaUbakaTV) April 2, 2020
N95 masks can be decontaminated five to ten times in the center before having to be thrown out. Not only will it reduce waste, but it will also help ensure there is enough of the essential item to keep medical staff safe through the peak of the pandemic.
Sudders said:
“The fact that we’ll be able to decontaminate it and use it on an extended basis using an FDA approved machine that will be located right here in Massachusetts creates a shelf life for that equipment that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise,” he said.
Just last week, the New England Patriots flew to China to secure more than 1 million N95 masks and brought them straight back to the Bay State.
No days off. Thanks to some serious teamwork, Massachusetts is set to receive over 1 million N95 masks for our front-line workers. Huge thanks to the Krafts and several dedicated partners for making this happen. pic.twitter.com/ieV6XMC5Ow
— Charlie Baker (@MAGovArchive) April 2, 2020
Boston nurses were concerned that they wouldn’t have enough equipment to keep them safe while caring for coronavirus patients. This week’s good news about face masks can hopefully ease their minds a bit.
