TEHRAN – Iran unveiled a domestically-made spray on Thursday, which is used to convert ordinary masks into masks that can kill coronavirus.

In addition to masks, this product can also be used on personal protective equipment and clothing to prevent the virus from entering the body, which has been developed by the researchers of Masih Daneshvari Hospital.

What sets the coronavirus apart from other viruses is the S protein that when it is eliminated or removed, the virus is virtually inactivated, Jalaleddin Ghanavi, research project director said.

Therefore, a molecule was designed to attack the S protein and kill the virus, he noted, adding, each spray of this molecule on the mask and other protective equipment lasts up to 8 hours.

Alireza Zali, head of coronavirus control working group in Tehran said that currently, Tehran is going through tragic and very difficult days of the pandemic, and Masih Daneshvari Hospital provides very good and quality services to the people, and these scientific and research efforts have made this center a reference for COVID-19 protocols and treatments.

"Today, the use of masks and protective equipment is still a very effective and inexpensive way and strategy to prevent virus transmission."

However, using a mask can still be effective even after vaccination and in case of new mutations which is occurring around the world, he added.

"But with the method we unveiled today, we can make ordinary masks very durable and turn them into special masks that inactivate the virus, and we can take a much more effective way to deal with the pandemic.”

Zali went on to note that this is while sponge and cloth masks prevent up to 50 percent of bacteria from entering the body, and are not able to fight the virus.

Self-sufficiency

With the outbreak of coronavirus, Iran surged its production to meet the country’s need for self-protective equipment along with medical and pharmaceutical items to fight against the virus, at a time when other developed countries were struggling with a severe lack of personal protective tools.

Iran is one of the top five manufacturers of coronavirus antigen-based rapid detection kits in the world; as homegrown antibody rapid test, which can detect coronavirus in 15 to 20 minutes, was unveiled in Tehran on November 17, 2020.

Sepideh Golbaz, an official with the Food and Drug Administration said on April 20 that imports of coronavirus detection kits have dropped to zero as some 24 knowledge-based companies are producing kits to meet the domestic needs.

Sourena Sattari, vice president for science and technology, told the Tehran Times in September 2020 that some of the knowledge-based companies reached a production capacity of more than 200-300 thousand diagnostic kits per day, which surpassed the country’s need for diagnostic kits, and there is a great export potential.

He also announced that two types of diagnostic kits are now mass-produced by knowledge-based companies, first one is the RT-PCR tests, 8 million of which are being produced per month; while the other is serology-based tests that a total of 400,000 are being manufactured monthly and is expected to reach up to 2 million.

At present, 40 advanced ventilators are manufactured daily in the medical equipment sector, he explained.

Knowledge-based companies can produce any medicine effective in countering coronavirus or approved by the scientific committee within a week to 10 days, he noted.

Mehdi Kashmiri, director for technology and planning at the science ministry, said in July that about 450 knowledge-based companies were active in the country for manufacturing protective equipment and treatment products to fight the coronavirus.

Production of more than one million face masks per day, production of more than 1.5 liters of disinfectants per day, diagnostic kits, non-contact thermometers, protective clothing, ventilator are among the produces manufactured by these companies, he added.

Iranian-made innovative products in the field of diagnosis, screening, and fighting coronavirus were also unveiled to combat the disease, namely, ozone generator, nanotechnology face shields, disinfection gate, and molecular COVID-19 diagnostic kits.

COVID-19 taking high toll in Iran

In a press briefing on Friday Health Ministry’s spokesperson, Sima-Sadat Lari, confirmed 19,272 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 2,499,077. She added that 1,954,321 patients have so far recovered, but 5,398 remain in critical conditions of the disease.

During the past 24 hours, 407 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 71,758, she added.

So far, 15,435,147 COVID-19 diagnostic tests have been performed in the country.

FB/MG