SOUTH JORDAN, Utah — Businesses are having a tough time with the pandemic, especially when it comes to reassuring customers it's safe to shop, dine-in, and work out, as long as precautions are taken.
Now some businesses across the country are investing in technology in the hope it can make places even safer.
The CycleBar in South Jordan got something called the REME HALO added to its HVAC system last year to clean the air.
The owner, Jay Smith said, "It wasn’t proven [to inactivate] COVID-19 at the time. It was only proven for other types of Coronavirus as well as flu, mold, etc. So we were confident that regardless if it killed COVID-19, it was going to help us."
In October 2020, a study looked at the effectiveness of a REME HALO device inside of a room similar to the size of CycleBar's studio.
The study found the device inactivated 99.9% of COVID-19 in the air and on surfaces of the test room.
"Under the current health guidelines, we don’t have to wear a mask while we’re exercising and we wanted people to feel comfortable there because you are expelling a lot of breath and taking in a lot of air," said Smith.
In addition to the use of this technology, CycleBar said it also puts bikes six feet apart, sanitizes the business from top to bottom regularly, requires masks while not exercising and outside of the cycling studio, as well as offering hand sanitizer.
All of this seems to be inspiring confidence in those who exercise at the CycleBar in South Jordan.
Russ Campbell, a regular customer said, "It does make me feel safer because I know they are putting in additional effort to ensure we have a safe place to ride. They keep everything very clean, and they always have, but it’s just that extra tool that reinforces the safety."
The owner of CycleBar said that while he's still seeing 25% fewer customers than he used to before the pandemic hit, he thinks this could be a solution to a rebound for other Utah businesses.
It is recommended by the company that makes REME HALO devices, RGF Environmental Group, that they are installed by a licensed electrician or HVAC professional.
