SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs will become the first professional basketball team to use technology to disinfect COVID-19 as the NBA sees an increase in infections amongst players.
The team is using Xenex LightStrike robots in order to slow the spread amongst support staff and players in the building.
The robots are armed with a Xenon lamp which emanates broad-spectrum UV light rays and is said to have a 14-foot reach.
The bots will be put to work disinfecting the arena from top to bottom in all areas of the AT&T Center.
According to the company, the intense light breaks down the molecular structure of a cell preventing it from hurting a person, infecting or replicating.
Morris Miller, Xenex’s CEO, says the robot service will create the most disinfected space possible and said his team is committed to safety.
“The significance of the San Antonio Spurs deploying LightStrike robots is that they’ve made a concrete commitment to the public, employees, fans and to player safety,” Miller said. “By deploying these robots, they’re creating the most-disinfected environment in that arena that they can possibly have.”
According to a number of studies, the robot is proven to have almost a 100% effectiveness.
Miller said the LightStrike robots are proven to kill the virus that causes COVID-19 in two minutes and was proven 99.99% effective by the Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
Amid the pandemic, Casey Heverling, vice president and general manager who oversees the AT&T center’s operations, says his team’s goal is to make the center the cleanest and safest in the NBA.
Since the start of the pandemic, Xenex LightStrike orders have increased by 600%, according to the company.
However, the bots are not the only ones on the job, the center has 100 people in the disinfecting effort.
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