European Laboratory Calls Israel's Masks 99.95 Percent Protective Against COVID-19 Delta Variant

JAKARTA - Israeli mask company Sonovia released the results of testing from a leading Italian laboratory, which showed their products have a level of protection of up to 99.95 percent against the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus.

Not only that, along with the announcement of the results of this laboratory test, company founder Shuki Hershchovich said the value of the company's shares jumped nearly 30 percent.

Specifically, the masks were tested by VisMederi Textyle, the same lab that previously reported that the unique fabric, coated in zinc nanoparticles, also protects against the UK variants of COVID-19 and H1N1, otherwise known as swine flu.

The lab is next expected to test the fabric against the Mu variant, which carries multiple mutations in the spike gene and is labeled a 'variant of interest' by the World Health Organization (WHO), Sonovia chief technology officer Liat Goldhammer-Steinberg said.

The Mu strain has not yet entered Israel, according to any official reports, but Health Ministry officials have warned of the potential negative impact.

VisMederi is a commercial research laboratory located in Italy. It says on its website, "the company is currently taking orders worldwide in the field of vaccines, where it performs analytical testing of biological samples and validation of bioanalytical methods for the pharmaceutical industry."

The Delta variant, currently the dominant coronavirus variant worldwide, has been circulating for several months in Israel. This month alone, more than 530 people have died from the Delta variant.

This latest result makes the company the only textile producer known to be proven to eliminate the Alpha variant and the Delta variant of COVID-19 and further prove the role of masks, in preventing the spread of the virus.

"We want to provide security to our customers that they are wearing masks that work," Sonovia's creative director Jordan Fox said, citing The Jerusalem Post Sept. 26.

Sonovia's technology uses sound waves to inject silver and zinc particles into textiles that kill bacteria and viruses. The technology is currently being applied to a variety of products other than the SonoMask brand, including seat covers for public transport and aircraft seats, bed linen and pillowcases for the hospitality sector, and clothing.

Prof. Amos Adler, director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at Tel Aviv University, who consulted with the company, once said, "Covid-19 variants may have distinct epidemiological or immunological properties that are the result of point mutations in a critical area, of the receptor binding domain. However, the overall structure and biophysical properties of the virus are almost identical. Therefore, the antiviral effect exerted by the Sonovia-treated fabric is expected to be present in all variants of COVID-19," he explained.

Adler also consulted with the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC).

Sonovia was founded in 2013, but was barely known before the coronavirus pandemic. In the last 18 months, the company has grown from a handful of employees to 60 staff members and nearly 200 contract workers.

All masks are manufactured in Israel to achieve the highest level of quality control, the company said.

Earlier this year, Sonovia announced a partnership with a pilot agreement with Delta Galil Industries, which manufactures clothing for major brands, from Victoria's Secret to Calvin Klein, to provide sustainable sportswear and other clothing that prevents odors.

“Our customers want tangible results,” says CEO Igal Zeitun, “and this is what we give them,” he continued.