We had the very good fortune to be able to get an MIQ spot (before the rush) so we took the plunge and faced the uncertainties and challenges of travel to go to the EU in early August. There were elderly parents and business interests to look after. The first priority was the 87 year old parents who had not seen any of their children for two years. And then there were important business contacts to keep up with and there is nothing like face to face meetings to do that.
With Covid having had such a huge impact in the EU and most news in NZ portraying the world as ‘very dangerous’ we were definitely hesitant. However it soon became apparent that things were relatively easy. There were few people on the flights over to the EU. Once there we quickly saw how this part of the world has adapted to living with Covid. The protocols such as mask wearing, vaccination proof at restaurants and public places are accepted. Travel necessarily involves testing and low and behold there are testing facilities, including rapid tests, all over. It’s not that hard.
The biggest issue was meeting people in more confined spaces. One of my first business meetings was at an office where the majority of staff had had Covid. That was a bit scary. However, as soon as we went into the board room I saw an air filtration unit, which prompted me to ask a few questions. The answers were simple and straight forward.
Management decided that ensuring a safe environment was a way to get staff and clients back to the office with confidence. It’s been well documented that bad ventilation in confined spaces is a main element of risk of infection. This specifically design filtration unit was a way to ensure there was virus free clean air, reducing, if not eliminating, the chance of infection due to bad air. This eased my mind and the meeting progressed with a 100% focus on what was important, rather than being side-tracked by an element of uneasiness.
Back in New Zealand, we have been guests of the Government at MIQ for two weeks. We discovered that similar technology was installed in all hallways, elevators, and our room.
We also discovered that the air was fresh. We have previously suffered from sinus issues which suddenly cleared up while we were in MIQ. The only thing we can contribute that to is the presence of the ventilation units and the quality of the air we were breathing (the issues have since re-surfaced).
During our two weeks of lockdown we did research and established contact with ViroPower™, a Dutch company which manufactures the virus free ventilation unit I had experience with in the Netherlands.
We decided it made sense to help New Zealanders back into safe office and indoor environments so we set up a business specifically for this purpose. And here we are, ViroPower™, ‘where people and clean air meet.’