President Trump’s claim that ultraviolet light could be used to battle the coronavirus was lambasted in the media with many claiming that ultraviolet lights were ineffective or even deadly. Not only do recent innovations in Israel confirm the president’s statement, but anyone familiar with the Bible knows that light is a powerful form of healing.

TRUMP’S UV CLAIM

Last Thursday, President Trump gave a press conference in which he speculated about using ultraviolet light to treat COVID-19: 

“So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful, light — and I think you said that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it — and then I said suppose you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that, too. Sounds interesting.”

“Then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. Is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside? Or almost a cleaning, ’cause you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it’d be interesting to check that. So you’re going to have to use medical doctors but it sounds interesting to me, so we’ll see but the whole concept of the light. The way it kills it in one minute, that’s pretty powerful.”

ISRAELI INNOVATION

The president was lambasted in the media with many claiming that ultraviolet lights were ineffective or even deadly. But in an incredible case of serendipity, several Israeli institutions announced the installation of UV units to battle the coronavirus.

Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak, Israel installed an ultraviolet light system in its areas for treating patients infected with the coronavirus including the intensive care unit and the outpatient clinic. The particular wavelength has been discovered to be deadly to the virus while being entirely safe for use in close proximity to patients and non-cancerous. The system can sterilize a room of the virus for up to half an hour at a time.

“UV lights have been used for years to purify and disinfect operating rooms in Israel and around the world, however in 2009 the American Health Authorities issued a warning that some of the lights which were being used created ozone molecules that could be extremely dangerous, especially for pulmonary patients,” Dr. Boris Orkin, who helped develop the system, said in an interview with the J-Post. “Because of this, they were not used in the fight against the coronavirus, for fear of harming the patient.”

Orkin said that the group’s research found that “there are ultraviolet lights, with a specific wavelength that do not create ozone, but are efficient in purifying buildings and rooms and therefore are extremely suitable in treating the virus. Furthermore, these same specific lights do not create harmful radiation for the skin and eyes. Using the physical algorithm, it is possible to install the light system and products with the wavelength and different outputs to conform to any size room or building. This type of system can destroy the Corona virus in a time frame of up to 30 minutes without harming any individuals”.

Bnei Brak is an ultra-Orthodox city in the center of the country. It is one of the COVID-19 hotspots with nearly one-third of the cases in Israel. Three weeks ago, the city was cordoned off by police and isolated from the rest of the country. Medical experts estimate that as many as 38% of Bnei Brak’s 200,000 residents are infected with coronavirus and that the town could soon account for as many as 30% of cases in Israel’s 8.7 million population. This is due to Bnei Brak’s population density, which officials say is almost 100 times higher than the national average.

In addition to the system now in operation in Mayanei Heyeshua, another UV system has been put into operation to to disinfect the COVID-19 units at the Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center and Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv. The system was developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) as an adaptation of its UV-C (short-wave-length ultraviolet) technology. The UV-C technology is also used to purify water.

UV light kills viruses in airborne droplets. There are three types of ultraviolet light: UV-A, UV-B and UV-C. UV-C was discovered to be the most effective against the virus, damaging the nucleic acids and preventing it from replicating. Its use as a disinfectant is fairly common in hospital and laboratory settings.

IAI is also testing a new robotic system that will use Ultraviolet light technology to rapidly sterilize passenger aircraft. The IAI system can work autonomously and automatically in a plane, once given a plan of the aircraft or any other large space. The system is purported to be faster and cheaper than existing systems that cleaning-fluids.

BIBLICAL SOURCE

To the Biblically-minded, it is not surprising that the president’s UV claim would be confirmed from the Holy Land since light as a source of healing has its source in the Prophesy in which light is associated with healing and life.

Then shall your light burst through like the dawn And your healing spring up quickly; Your Vindicator shall march before you, The Presence of Hashem shall be your rear guard. Isaiah 58:8

For Hashem shall be a light to you forever, And your days of mourning shall be ended. Isaiah 60:20

The connection between light and life was also hinted at by King David and his son Solomon.

 With You is the fountain of life; by Your light do we see light. Psalms 36:10 

For the commandment is a lamp, The teaching is a light, And the way to life is the rebuke that disciplines. Proverbs 6:23