Coronavirus: Care home decontamination unit on trial

A trial of a coronavirus decontamination unit at a care home in southeast France is proving a hit with staff and residents.

Since November 16, visitors and staff at the Figanières retirement home in the Var have had to enter and remain in the booth for 30 seconds before they head into the building.

Inside, the temperature rises to 75C - the booth's designers say that this eliminates 99.999% of viruses.

"We found that at 75 degrees for 30 seconds, we destroyed the virus," says Patrice Casse, distributor for the company La Hanse.

"It is reassuring to think that each member of the staff who will enter will go through the decontamination airlock. All clothes, inside the ears, the nose, everything is decontaminated," said the home's director Marie-Jeanne Languillat.

The purpose of the trial at the home is to establish public perception of such a device - using it is not compulsory. Visitors and staff still observe all usual protocols, including social distancing, wearing facemasks and using hand sanitiser. The home has reported no cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, Franceinfo reports.