Dainik Bhaskar sanitises its newspapers before circulation

The panic surrounding Coronavirus, and its spread, is on the rise with each passing day. Even as the authorities are undertaking every possible step to ensure the safety of people, brands, too, are doing their bit. Newspapers keep you updated on the latest COVID-19 news. And, considering the many hands it passes through before finally landing in your porch, Dainik Bhaskar, the leading Hindi language daily, is now sanitising all its newspapers, post printing.

Clips of newspaper sheets being sanitised were shared by the brand on social media.

Girish Agarwal, promoter director, Dainik Bhaskar Group, tells afaqs! that all printing plants have automatic sanitiser machines, which are sprayed on the (printed) newspaper. “We will continue to employ sanitising process till the impact of Coronavirus gets diluted in India,” he says.

The brand is also sanitising distributors and hawkers at distribution centres across India. “We have also distributed latex gloves, masks and sanitisers to them," he confirms.

Explaining the sanitisation process, RD Bhatnagar, chief technology officer, Dainik Bhaskar Group, says they have installed compressed sanitiser dispensers that spray a mist on the newspapers when they are coming out of the printing machine. “Our printing engineers designed them in-house for the specific application of mist spraying,” he shares.

“The sanitiser solution is prepared by using a combination of isopropyl alcohol, glycerol, hydrogen peroxide and distilled water. The solution is expensive (Rs 1,000 per litre). Its consumption is also high as it is applied as a mist,” adds Bhatnagar.

Speaking of how safe it is to receive a newspaper, Bhatnagar quotes the World Health Organization (WHO) as saying, “The likelihood of an infected person contaminating commercial goods is low and the risk of catching the virus that causes COVID-19 from a package (including newspapers) that has been moved, travelled and exposed to different conditions and temperature is also low. Newspaper is also printed using inks and solvents that contain chemicals that are repulsive to the Coronavirus. IFRA and International Federation for Newspaper Research, Germany will be working with research agencies and publishing a report shortly.”

Another national daily The Times of India, in a video tweet on Sunday (March 22), highlighted how newspapers don’t spread COVID-19.