Entering the Central Market in downtown San José through the main entrance will have now have to go through a “disinfection tunnel” installed on Thursday with the aim of reducing exposure to COVID-19.
The novel strategy caught the attention of visitors, many of them entered the tunnel without hesitation.
Johnny Arce, president of the Central Market Retail Merchants Union, explained that there is no risk to people’s health.
“It is an aspiration system, the product used is called fifth generation quaternary ammonium,” explained Arce. This substance is ideal for disinfecting surfaces commonly found in disinfectant wipes, sprays and other household cleaners that are designed to kill germs.
“There are two recommendations we give: They cannot pass food through the tunnel or with open wounds,” added Arce.
The 15-day pilot plan was started with the support of two companies, one manufacturer and the other operational. “The idea is to evaluate the benefits of the system to determine if it is worth using at entry points,” said Arce.
The sanitation tunnel has sensors that activate the mechanism when a person enters.
“It was a quite enriching experience,” said the administrator of the Central Market, Roberto Campos, about the first day of testing.
“In normal conditions, up to 5,000 people pass through here daily. Now, due to the pandemic, there is a considerable reduction, about 1,000 per day. I calculate that today, through that entrance, about 650 or 700 people passed through,” Campos said.
The proposal becomes relevant if the large number of workers who live there are taken into account.
“We are more than 500 (workers), so we try to go through the tunnel every time we go out and enter the market,” concluded Arce.
