TORONTO – Changes in dine-in restrictions will be ushered in once again at the end of this month, as some provinces respond anew to the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
The Canadian restaurant industry, hoping to bounce back from a lacklustre 2021, remains disillusioned. But one restaurant is trying something new when it reopens based on the success seen within the U.S. hospitality sector.
The Miller Tavern is the first restaurant in Canada to install Aura Air, which has already been successfully deployed at several SUBWAY restaurants, as well as select Sheraton and Hilton hotels in the U.S., and the Vogue Hotel in Montreal. The technology, developed in Israel, uses a four-stage purification process to filter and treat airborne pathogen droplets.
“COVID-19 is airborne, therefore, technology is needed to ensure continuous protection against this particular type of transmission,” said Yehuda Ordower, Managing Partner for Aura Canada. “The Aura Smart Air technology includes air quality monitoring and reporting capabilities where, via its app and QR code, users can see IAQ performance in real-time.”
Two independent studies from the U.S. and Israel confirmed the Aura Air system can destroy 99.99 per cent of airborne COVID-19 in the test facility within 60-minutes. The studies were conducted by Innovative Bioanalysis labs in California’s Silicon Valley, and Sheba Medical Center, voted one of the top 10 clinical hospitals globally and has used Aura Air in its COVID-19 wards and staff rooms since the pandemic started.
“Air purification is emerging as an important part of the defence against COVID-19. This is especially true for restaurants and other places where masks need to be removed,” said Ordower. “But when customers and staff know they are in an environment with a technology proven to remove 99 percent of COVID-19, this can only be good for business. It could be the way back for the hospitality industry.”