By Tuqa Khalid

DUBAI — Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, chief of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, on Monday used “Ozone tech” to sterilize Islam’s holiest site, the Holy Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, amid the coronavirus outbreak.

“Ozone technology” is based on the idea of producing ozone by using the oxygen naturally present in the air.

Ozone gas (also known as trioxygen, because it is comprised of three atoms of oxygen) is a well-known powerful oxidizer which can kill microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses.

Studies have shown that ozone can be an effective air disinfectant as in water. It has been used to kill E. coli and to disinfect SARS-contaminated environments.

It doesn’t leave behind toxic residuals such as other disinfection chemicals making it an efficient and safe method of disinfection and sterilization.

The technology will be used to disinfect surfaces and carpets in the Grand Mosque.

Al-Sudais also participated in the washing and disinfecting of the Holy Kaaba and Prophet Ibrahim’s Station near it.

That comes as part of the work scheduled by the presidency, which includes maintenance work of the black stone and Kaaba Kiswa (the cloth cover) and other precautionary measures implemented inside the Grand Mosque to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus within it or in its courtyards. — Al Arabiya English