Coronavirus News: Long Island bus drivers get added protection against COVID with nasal spray
FREEPORT, Long Island (WABC) -- A group of Long Island bus drivers are getting an extra layer of protection with a new nasal spray designed to stop the spread of coronavirus in the user's nose and throat.
Halodine is a $25 oral and nasal anti-septic that has just launched a national campaign.
Its claim is that in lab tests its ingredient, poviodone-iodine, can kill the virus that causes COVID-19 in just 15 seconds.
Its creators were doctors who were worried about COVID as they reopened.
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"We're anesthesiologists, we're ophthalmologists, we're dermatologists," Halodine President Dr. Jesse Pelletier said. "It's not like your betadine, it's different, it's proprietary because it's removed of the toxins, so it's safe for the nose and mouth."
Now, NFL Hall-of-Famer Darrell Green has joined forces with the company to donate it to essential workers in Freeport and school bus drivers who work for the Guardian Bus Company, serving 14 Long Island districts. The question is, will they try it?
"Listen, it sounds hopeful, another thing to use, that can potentially protect us," school bus driver Aaron Champagne said.
"I guess I would try it, but I would want somebody else to try it first," school bus driver Rose Somra said.
This is just the first of a bunch of donations the company is hoping to make.
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Halodine is also hoping that teachers in the SUNY system, sample their product, as well as those who play contact sports like professional football.
"You can't social distance. Every player is gonna end up in a pile of humans, you aren't wearing a mask," Green said.
Greene says he has reached out to Washington, Baltimore, and Denver already.
As the months of this pandemic wear on, Halodine is not professing to be a cure for COVID, but an additional tool for prevention in brand new places.
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