A Jail in Texas is Keeping Their Cells and Hallways Clean Using Robots

With sanitation at an all-time high due to the global health pandemic, a jail county in Cuero, Texas has started to use robots in keeping their cells and hallways clean. Using inmate commissary funds, the DeWitt County Sheriff’s Office invested $180,000 in purchasing Xenex Robots that can clean and disinfect in just over five minutes.

The Xenex Robots, also known as LightStrike, has a patented Pulsed Xenon UV Light System that can kill pathogens within its wavelength to help reduce any virus-causing germ transmissions. “The air has a different smell before disinfection and after disinfection. That’s because the robot is purifying the air,” says Sheriff Carl Bowen.

The mission to serve and protect also goes beyond the streets as Captain Jerry Garza states that their facility aims to provide a safer environment for the inmates along with the jail staff through the pandemic with the help of these cleaning robots.

As of August 2020, the county has reported that no inmates entering and leaving their jail cells have tested COVID-19 positive. Based on these initial results, the county plans on investing in two more cleaning and disinfecting LightStrike robots from Xenex.

It’s not the first time robots are being used to clean facilities as a hospital in Searcy, Arkansas has also started “hiring” Xenex robots to disinfect and sanitize rooms. To which the hospital also reported how infection rates decreased ever since the implementation of cleaning robots.

With more positive reports on how robots are effective at cleaning and sanitizing places, it might not come as anyone’s surprise to see more robots used as a non-contact cleaning solution for more facilities in the nearby future.