Historically, the mountains of Cordoba - and especially the Punilla Valley - have stood out as an ideal point for the treatment of respiratory diseases due to the qualities of their air.

Miguel Cané, general director of La Posada del Qenti, told El Diario: "Ozone is the most powerful disinfectant against the coronavirus and all types of microorganisms according to the World Health Organization. Ozone's ability to fight viruses is based on its oxidizing power. Its use as a disinfectant is based on its power to oxidize other compounds, by stealing electrons from them. This makes it a very effective agent to fight against a large number of microorganisms, although not all are equally susceptible. Ozone is also biocidal (eliminates living organisms) due to its oxidizing power and because it is very reactive with proteins, lipids, biological membranes and, in general, with organic matter. If we compare it with other oxidizing products, it is more powerful than chlorine, which is a traditional disinfectant, and hydrogen peroxide itself. This unquestionably defines ozone as a potential candidate for cleaning coronavirus surfaces.”

"I am convinced that if we manage to scientifically test these observations, ozone could be very beneficial for the prevention and cure of this pandemic in our province, our country, and the world," he said.

Before the discovery of antibiotics in the mid-twentieth century, the climatic conditions of the mountains of Córdoba (due to their ozone load) allowed the cure of respiratory patients and especially tuberculosis. "The recognition that climacteric therapy had in the treatment of the disease created conditions so that from the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, an important migratory flow of" breast patients "developed in this area of Argentina, mainly from other provinces of the country," Cané explained.

Likewise, there were also numerous asthma patients (including Ernesto "Che" Guevara) who chose the Punilla Valley and mountain ranges to mitigate the effects of asthma. "Surely there are many people who came to benefit from the healing power of ozonated air in our mountains of Córdoba, and they will attest, like me, to this quality that is so beneficial to health. I was born in 1948, in Pilar (Córdoba), asthmatic and at risk of death. At that time the recognized healing properties of the air of the mountains made my grandfather take me many weekends and full vacations to Cuesta Blanca, because the healing effects of pure and healthy air for my disease were already known. Seven years later and given the benevolence of the ozonated air I breathed, I not only improved my health, but I was definitively cured," recalled the general director of the Posada del Qenti.

The last point on which Cané maintains his thesis is linked to the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Icho Cruz. The virus was contracted by a woman during surgery at the Italian Hospital in Cordoba, infecting her husband and two of their three children. The family did not take proper care and had contact with many people, which forced the Emergency Operations Center to order the encirclement of the Solares neighborhood due to the danger of a massive contagion.

"Mass tests were also carried out and there have been no positive results of the virus in any of the more than four hundred tests carried out, not producing a large mass contamination, as expected. The atmosphere of the Punilla Valley in general, the vicinity of the High Summits, has proven to produce natural ozone in higher than normal proportions due to photochemical processes that occur, such as the disintegration of amphibole granite (Thorium and Uranium) that is found on the surface of some mountain ranges and producing a change in the molecular composition of oxygen. The molecule breaks down, delivering two oxygen atoms, which then recombine with other oxygen molecules. These recombined molecules contain three oxygen atoms instead of two, resulting in ozone. Hence, in this health crisis, ozone is increasingly being used for the in-depth cleaning of surfaces, such as vehicles of health or police personnel, and of hospital facilities or public buildings, he added.

An alternative to COVID-19?

“Ozone destroys numerous viruses, bacteria and fungi, and is very effective against the coronavirus family. Studies show that it kills over 99% of viruses in as little as 20 seconds. There is no data yet to certify that it eliminates Covid-19, but we do know that ozone penetrates the cell membrane and that coronaviruses are sensitive to oxidizing agents and, therefore, we can assume with the scientific evidence available to date, that the virus will be damaged and destroyed. In this way, the viral load can be decreased and its spread prevented," Cané acknowledged.

Source: www.eldiariodecarlospaz.com.ar