Samsung to install 51,000 air purifiers to help Australians return to school

Samsung Electronics Co. will help the students in the Australian state of Victoria in making safe returns to the classroom in a post-COVID environment.

The Victorian Department of Education and Training said earlier this week that it will be installing 51,000 Samsung AX7500 (AX90T7080WD) air purifiers in public classrooms to ensure a safe learning environment against the ongoing pandemic. The Victorian government will spend 125 million Australian dollars ($105 million) in purchasing the Samsung air purifiers.

“We will have the biggest ever investment in ventilation in schools. We have signed a contract with Samsung and out of that $190 million, $125 million will deliver air purification devices to every single government school and all low-fee Catholic and independent schools in Victoria,” said Victoria’s deputy premier and education minister James Merlino.

An Australian newspaper, The Australian, noted that the first round of deliveries is expected to land in Victoria within the last week of September. Samsung added that the air purifiers will be deployed as quickly as possible over the next four months with the company chartering flights from South Korea to Australia.

“It’s tremendous to see that the education department of Victoria has reviewed a multitude of options to keep the students safe as they return to school in a post-COVID environment. We are thrilled to be a part of their plan,” said Jeremy Senior, the VP of consumer electronics at Samsung Electronics Australia.

“We believe that the addition of air purifiers with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters into classrooms will also bring confidence that the right precautious are being taken as we get into the rhythm of our new normal,” added the vice president.

Another Australian media outlet, Tech Guide, noted that the efficacy of Samsung’s portable air purifiers has been verified by research conducted at the University of Melbourne, which has been published in the Journal of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

The media highlighted that the research used Samsung AX5500 (AX60T5080WD) air purifier model to find that the devices that are equipped with HEPA filtration have helped increase the clearance of aerosols and airborne contaminants.

“Air purification devices remove the nasty particles in the air including coronavirus. We will have a focus on higher risk settings, places like sick bays, canteens, staffroom, music rooms and more,” added the Victorian education minister.

Write to Shin-young Park at nyusos@hankyung.com
Daniel Cho edited this article.