While the Falcons appear to be the first NFL team using disinfecting drones, the Carolina Panthers are taking a different, equally techie approach. That team is using Xenex Disinfection’s LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots that blast areas with UV light to damage virus DNA and render it inert. However, the team is only using the devices in locker rooms, weight room, rehab areas, suites and offices, and not in the general seating areas. That’s because the device is usually used to disinfect hospital rooms and has a limited range.
Ensuring that surfaces are virus-free is a good step, but the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now says that surface transmission likely plays a minor role in spreading the coronavirus. Rather, experts believe that you’re more likely to catch it via droplets from someone coughing or sneezing, or possibly even smaller particles via airborne transmission.