Airports are vital resources in the transportation of people and products throughout the regional, national, and international levels of commerce. However, the possibility of disease transmission through air travel is a critical public health concern. How many times have you or someone woke up with a cold after flying on an airplane the day before? It’s a stereotype that airplanes are easy opportunities to be sick due to the close proximity of human content and small spaces of air cabins.
Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic brought an unprecedented risk of transmission to the aviation industry. As cases spread throughout the country and transmission attempted to be curbed, airlines suffered greatly. The combination of the already potential opportunity for easy disease spread due to enclosed spaces, a high number of publicly touched surfaces, and the interaction of people from all over the country, can create a hub of virus transmission.
As airports continue to reopen and manage crowd levels, they are presented with infectious disease control challenges unique to their industry. With the right equipment, such as hand sanitizer dispensers and stands, airports can continue to protect travelers and employees as best they can while continuing to rebuild the industry from COVID-19.
Why Airports Need Infectious Disease Control Solutions
Even before the threat of pandemic-level virtual transmission, air travel posed unique infectious disease control challenges. The global airline industry handled more than four billion passengers in 2019 and that number is expected to rise. Since airports connect people all around the world, this means an unprecedented number of passengers touching the same heavily used surfaces and breathing the same air.
There’s good reason to understand why airports pose such a threat. Aircraft cabins, boarding lines, and communal spaces such as restrooms, force people into close contact with one another. Additionally, the number of heavily touched surfaces is high (i.e. handrails and security bins).
Pathogens can be harbored even in the least obvious places. Researchers collected samples at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport throughout the 2015 and 2016 flu seasons and found that half of the plastic luggage trays at airport security contained pathogens such as influenza and the common cold. Additionally, another study found that touch screens at self-check-in kiosks can contain over 250,000 colony-forming units (CFU) of bacteria per square inch of the surfaces. To put that into perspective, a toilet seat generally contains 172 CFU.
The addition of COVID-19 complicates airport safety and infectious disease control since the virus spreads predominately through infected water droplets when someone coughs or sneezes, or when an infected person touches public surfaces. This makes airports especially capable of causing wide-spread transmission of the virus. With the proper infectious disease control, viruses such as COVID-19 and other pathogens can be controlled so passengers are protected during airline travel.
How Hand Sanitizer Stands Can Help Keep Airports Safe
By implementing infectious disease control solutions throughout airports, airport safety can be optimized and fewer passengers and personnel can be exposed to infectious pathogens, such as COVID-19. Hand sanitizer stands can especially minimize COVID-19 exposure or combat annual flu seasons due 
to its hygienic solutions.
The CDC recommends infectious disease control guidelines, such as frequently disinfecting workplaces and consistent hand-washing. Unlike a typical office, airports are a public space that is hard to maintain regulations. Hand sanitizer stands can help maintain hygienic control practices if placed in areas of high traffic, such as throughout terminals and dining areas. Passengers won’t be tempted to skip frequent hand washing if a hand sanitizer stand is conveniently located near them rather than a trip to a crowded restroom for hand-washing.
The more hand sanitizer stands and dispensers placed around airports, the more people will use them and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Public surfaces, whether food court tables or luggage bins, will have less chance of bacteria growth due to the common use of sanitizers, making the overall environment cleaner for all.
Choose Marlin Steel's Hand Sanitizer Stands For The Best Protection
Marlin Steel’s hand sanitizer dispensers and stands offer the most comprehensive protection for airports. Besides the easy accessibility and convenience of hand sanitizer stands, Marlin Steel’s products also offer:
Minimal Contact For Increased Sanitization
Marlin Steel’s hand sanitizer stands have a “no-touch” component allowing for minimal contact, further reducing the spread of pathogens. Whereas traditional dispensers and hand-washing involve spreading infectious droplets or touching public surfaces, a no-touch sanitizing station removes the risk of unnecessary touch by using motion sensors instead of a button to deliver a powerful sanitizing solution in a singular, convenient action.
Any extra contact potentially spreads infectious disease throughout airports and increases the chances of COVID-19 transmission. With a no-touch sanitizer dispenser, this risk is eliminated.
Universal Stand With Changeable Headers
Marlin Steel sanitizer stands are universal stands that can hold a variety of different headers. This 
allows your airports to be full of no-touch dispensers that fit your needs and preferences. Popular dispensers supported by the sanitizer stand include SC Johnson, DEB, and Purell, as well as Marlin Steel’s own automatic no-touch dispenser. Marlin’s sanitizer stands also can change headers so they can be used to hold Clorox wipes, Purell wipes, 1/2 gallon jugs, or gallon jugs of sanitizer.
As the airline industry struggles to open up safely, you need to make sure employees and passengers are as safe as possible so travelers can resume their trips as normal. Trust Marlin Steel’s infectious disease control solutions to keep your facility can be kept as hygienic as possible. Contact an expert today for more information on how Marlin Steel’s solutions can keep your airport safely running all through the rest of the pandemic and after.
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