From football stadiums to movie theatres, the idea of large crowds is still terrifying to a lot of people during this pandemic, but a new invention that helps kill COVID-19 germs instantly could help get people back into some of the nation’s most beloved large venues.
For Mark Zurevinski, who once traveled the globe managing shows for superstars, business disappeared in an instant this past spring. With both his employees and his own livelihood on the line, Zurevinski looked around at all those stadiums and decided to come up with a solution to help get people safely back into large spaces.
“I saw everyone in the entertainment crossing their arms and waiting for the government to find a solution,” he said.
In the middle of the pandemic, as businesses worldwide shut down, Zurevinski started a new business called Sani Pass.
The company has developed a disinfecting channel walkthrough machine to kill the novel coronavirus. First, the machine takes your temperature, then nozzles spray a fine non-toxic disinfecting solution over your clothes and bags that kill any COVID germs you may have on you.
One machine costs around $12,000.
“We’re not suggesting we’re a cure. We’re suggesting we are a part of a broader arsenal of products that need to be implemented in order to bring us back to some form of normalcy,” Zurevinski added.
Zurevinski also knew that if you couldn't move people through the machine quickly, it wouldn't matter.
It takes about eight seconds for one person to get a person disinfected in the Sani Pass. The company estimates they could get 55,000 people into a stadium in just 90 minutes.
“I wanted to get people back into arena, back into theatres, back into stadiums. Those are large mass gatherings and in order to get people in there quick enough, we had to find a solution that was not 30 seconds, one minute, two minutes each,” he said.
Aside from stadiums, Zurevinski is also in talks with some airports who are considering putting the Sani Pass in place.