Liquid chalk – will it reduce the spread of Covid-19 at climbing walls?
- Thursday 18th June 2020
Keith Sharples reports…
Nearly six weeks ago Climber took a long, hard look at the health – and wealth – of the indoor climbing industry and what it might look like post lockdown. As climbing walls prepare to reopen in the UK we look in detail at the latest thoughts on reducing the contagion at walls and the part liquid chalk might have a part to play.
In Climber’s deep dive into the coronavirus-affected indoor climbing wall business, published on May 7th (here), we looked into how and when climbing walls might reopen as well as the impact the current closures were having on climbing wall operators. Central to reopening of climbing walls are the revised operating protocols which have been developed by the Association of British Climbing walls (ABC) in conjunction with other similar associations and bodies in the international community. The protocols, which we listed in our report, aim to reduce the spread of Covid-19 between staff and visitors by ensuring social distancing as well as the adoption of multi-faceted hygiene measures.
As part of the various hygiene measures we included in our report we mentioned that liquid chalk might have a part to play in reducing the transmission of the coronavirus. At the time a study was ongoing in the USA into the efficacy of liquid chalk. The belief now is that liquid chalk might have a part to play in reducing the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus albeit not by contributing to hand cleansing as was anticipated but in the reduction in airborne Particulate Matter (PM) and hence the potential for the virus to attach itself to the chalk particles which might lead to further infections.
Read more in our article on the Indoor Climber page here...