The illa Carlemany shopping centre, The Centre in Andorra, has received a great deal of visitor traffic with the Covid-19 confinement exceptions. As a result, and as the centre contemplates the possible reopening of the shops, it is implementing more safety measures and protocols.

These measures include the control of the number of people allowed into the shops at once, more frequent cleaning and disinfection of door knobs, handrails, railings, and lift control buttons, and more intense cleaning in bathrooms. In a word, the shopping centre envisages more frequent cleaning and disinfection shifts, providing the health authorities do not recommend the closure of these spaces when the shops reopen.

Moreover, the centre has been equipped with air disinfection systems created by the doctor of biomedical engineering Pere Monagas, who works as an inventor and researcher at the Centre for Research on Food Safety and Control (known under its Catalan acronym, “CRESCA”) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). For eighteen years, Dr. Monagas and his team have been working on this product, which has been successfully used in hospitals of Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic.

These small devices, which have been officially approved by different international bodies, disinfect both the air and surfaces, removing viruses and bacteria, through a sequence of reactions. According to the tests and certifications of the company that created it, this device is 99 % efficient in eliminating viruses, bacteria, odours, mould allergens and volatile organic compounds. This clean and safe technology does not release any liquids into the environment and it is totally compatible with the presence of people or animals.

In addition to reminding visitors to wear a mask—correctly, covering the nose, mouth and chin— and installing hand sanitiser dispensers, the shopping centre has established one-way paths to the entrance and exit doors, as well as the recommended use of specific circuits to go upstairs or downstairs and the use of the lifts either individually or by single family units. The aim is to enable people to remain at a safe social distance from one another.

illa Carlemany has always placed high priority on the security and safety of the shopping centre’s workers and visitors, for, despite the inconvenience of certain measures, safety is essential.