Gone in 60 seconds: Inventor develops spray that quickly kills Covid

  • Watch Tanya Mercer's video report

The British are a nation of inventors, from George Stephenson's Rocket and Frank Whittle's jet engine to Mandy Haberman with the baby feeding cup and Tim Berners Lee, the brains behind the world wide web.

To that very non-exhaustive list we can add the name of Michael Pritchard. The Essex inventor has come up with an anti-viral spray to tackle coronavirus - all in a back garden laboratory

 

The development has been impressive - he started work a week before the first UK lockdown – working 18 hour days for three months.

The project soon started grabbing attention, seeing him work with scientists from the Ministry of Defence and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to hone the formula. 

The spray acts like a bit like a washing up liquid – which attacks the fat layer around the virus.

The spray is already being used by schools and the Army

 

 

Michael’s no stranger to innovative designs. 

He's appeared on Dragon’s Den with some spray technology he designed – managing to entice two dragons to join his venture. 

Michael on the Dragons' Den Credit: BBC

And he developed the LiveSaver bottle – which turns dirty water into clean water in a matter of moments

The anti-virus product is being used by the army and schools.  And they’re hoping to roll it out to other places – like the hospitality industry. 

 

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