The former director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is taking on a new job: advising public health policy for Big Ass Fans.
Robert Redfield, who oversaw many of the Trump administration’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in his CDC chief role, and who is a veteran virologist, will advise Big Ass Fans (which, yes, makes fans of various types, including very large ones) on its infection control strategies.
Specifically, Redfield will be the strategic health and safety adviser for Big Ass Fans’ Clean Air Systems, the kinds of fans meant to combat the spread of pathogens through smart ventilation products made by the company.
Fans and ventilation systems have been major public health safety concerns during the COVID pandemic, especially as employers debate how to safely return their employees to work, and the public at large considers whether or not to get products that could battle infectious foes like the coronavirus within their own households.
For Big Ass Fans, that’s meant the production of new products such as the ones in its Haiku line of smart ceilings fans, which the company claims can kill upwards of 99% of airborne coronavirus and other pathogens by using ultraviolet light technology. There have been preliminary independent studies suggesting it works as advertised, as CNET reports.
Redfield’s experience as a prominent virologist and CDC director in the midst of a pandemic seems to be the driving force behind Big Ass Fans’ rationale to recruit him, although it’s unclear what the extent of his role will be.