During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, overcrowded hospitals risked running out of space to safely isolate infected patients. Rediroom, the world’s first portable patient isolation room, helps solve this problem. Conceived by an Australian nurse and created by U.K.-based GAMA Healthcare, Rediroom is wheeled on a cart containing plastic scaffolding and a single-use canopy that is assembled to surround a hospital bed in about five minutes. Not yet available in the U.S, Rediroom is being used in U.K. National Health Service facilities, where it was tested. In one case, hospital-onset COVID-19 cases declined by 75% after a hospital system began using Redirooms to isolate patients in admissions and ward areas.
More Must-Reads From TIME
- Global Climate Solutions Exist. It's Time to Deploy Them
- What Happens to Diane Feinstein's Senate Seat
- Who The Golden Bachelor Leaves Out
- Rooftop Solar Power Has a Dark Side
- How Sara Reardon Became the 'Vagina Whisperer'
- Is It Flu, COVID-19, or RSV? Navigating At-Home Tests
- Kerry Washington: The Story of My Abortion
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time