The Carolina Panthers and XENEX, the makers of the LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robot, have partnered to donate a LightStrike disinfection device to the Charlotte 49ers Athletic Department.
The Panthers used LightStrike devices throughout the 2020 football season to disinfect rooms and areas throughout Bank of America Stadium to try to keep the facility free of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The robot is proven to deactivate SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces in two minutes.
The LightStrike robot utilizes a xenon lamp that emits bursts of intense, broad-spectrum UV light that quickly damages virus DNA in a number of ways and renders it useless. The robot works quickly and does not require warm-up or cool-down time, so the 49ers will be able to disinfect dozens of rooms per day.
The Panthers and XENEX are donating a robot dubbed "NUGGET" in a nod to Charlotte's 49ers nickname and mascot, Norm the Niner. Charlotte will use NUGGET to disinfect locker rooms, training rooms, weight rooms, and team meeting rooms in the Jerry Richardson Stadium.
"We are extremely grateful for the partnership that we have with the Carolina Panthers and Xenex to provide such a useful tool in the continuing efforts to disinfect our athletic facilities," said Cass Ferguson, Assistant A.D. for Facilities and Events at Charlotte. "The Xenex LightStrike robot provides another tool in caring for our Student-Athletes, staff and visitors."
The Panthers and XENEX presented the robot to the Charlotte staff on Friday, March 12th during a socially-distant event on campus in the 49ers football locker room.
"We are pleased to partner with Xenex to provide Charlotte with its very own disinfection robot," said Riley Fields, Director of Community Relations for the Carolina Panthers. "The Panthers chose Xenex disinfecting robots when preparing for the 2020 season because they provided the best UV disinfecting solution for us and allowed quick sanitization of areas frequented by players, staff and fans. The robots have proven to be an important part of our team's cleaning and disinfection strategy, and now the 49ers will benefit from this same technology in their athletic facilities."
