No doubt, the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the Covid-19 disease isn’t going away anytime soon. Even with the gradual ease of the lockdown in most cities across the globe, Covid-19 cleaning and sterilization of surfaces in your home or office can help lower the chances of the spread of the killer virus.
Irrespective of how you’ve planned to leverage the ease of the lockdown, either by opening your office, warehouse, shops, bars, or restaurants, you should continue to wear a mask when you’re outside and maintain social distancing and, above all, maintain good cleaning habits.
The Cleanliness Factor
Cleanliness, they say, is next to godliness. This couldn’t get a more resounding yes than in today’s context of Coronavirus. We all have a moral obligation to keep ourselves, our homes, and our workspaces clean. In so doing, we’re advertently keeping others around us safe.
The word “clean” has taken over the world with masks, hand sanitizers, and social distancing. Besides announcing cleanliness and sterilization everywhere, how much do we know about these cleaning and disinfectant solutions?
Cleaning and disinfectant process are applied for a couple of reasons; to safeguard against Coronavirus and when there’s a case of Covid-19 (either confirmed or transient).It won’t cost you much to carry out a one-time disinfectant cleaning of your home or office even without any transient or confirmed case around you. Whichever the case, always seek a professional cleaning company’s services for disinfectant cleaning.
Here’s what you need to know about Covid-19 cleaning, sterilization, and disinfectant solution.
Covid-19 Cleaning And Disinfectant
Covid-19 cleaning and disinfecting, although used in the same context, are not the same. Cleaning and disinfecting are two very different things altogether.
Cleaning is about getting rid of contaminants from a surface while disinfecting is about killing or denaturing of microorganisms on a surface.Both cleaning and sterilization or disinfecting are both means of sanitization.
Examples of surfaces to consider for coronavirus sanitization
- Doorknobs
- Table surfaces
- Hard dining chairs
- Kitchen counters
- Bathroom counters
- Faucets and faucet knobs
- Toilets (seat and handle)
- Light switches
- TV remote controls
- Game controllers
- Toys
It is recommended to clean your home daily, especially if anything or anyone has entered or exited your home. For disinfectant cleaning works, it is best to leave it to your local cleaning company.
How Can It Be Transmitted?
Notwithstanding that there’s still much to learn about the novel Coronavirus that causes the covid-19 disease, tremendous improvements have been made so far. Transmission is more pronounced through respiratory droplets than other means, including objects and surfaces, like doorknobs, countertops, keyboards, light switches, toys, etc.
The SARS-CoV-2 that causes coronavirus disease can remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from various materials. To effectively eliminate this virus, thereby preventing the spread, cleaning all surfaces around your home or office, followed by disinfection, is the best pragmatic measure for preventing the spread.
Can Coronavirus Survive On Surfaces?
Although it’s not yet sure how long the virus can survive on surfaces, however, a documented review on the survival of human coronavirus on surfaces found large variability, ranging from 2 hours to 9 days.
A lot of factors have been highlighted to influence on the survival time of the virus. These factors include the type of surface, temperature, relative humidity, and the virus’s specific strain.
Can It Be Transmitted Through Contaminated Surfaces?
When an infected person coughs or exhales, they tend to release droplets of covid-19 infected fluids. Many of these fluids mostly fall on surrounding surfaces and objects like desks, tables, telephones, or paper material. By touching contaminated objects or surfaces and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth, you can catch COVID-19.
That said, transmission via objects or surfaces poses lesser risk compared to transmission from person-to-person. Nevertheless, CDC still recommends that you clean and disinfect all habitually touched surfaces in your home at least once daily. As you never can tell if visitors to your home, touching these surfaces has been in contact with other people with the virus (even if it’s with those with mild symptoms). Playing it safe is always the best way out.
How To Clean And Disinfect
- Wash your hands with soap and water or use hand sanitizer with at least 70% alcohol
- Always wear reusable or disposable gloves to clean and disinfect.
- Clean surfaces with soap and water before applying a disinfectant. Cleaning surfaces with water and soap helps to eliminate dirt, germs, and impurities on the surface.
- Clean frequently touched surfaces regularly. Some of these frequent touch areas include doorknobs, handles, tables, light switches, countertops, desks, phones, keyboards, toilets, faucets, sinks, etc. Routine cleaning of these surfaces is generally based on the level of use.
- Surfaces and objects in public places, frequently exposed to constant touches like shopping carts and point of sale keypads should be cleaned and disinfected before each use.
To be clear, wearing gloves when running errands or in commercial centers doesn’t necessarily guarantee that you’ll be protected from getting COVID-19. You can still get or spread the virus. The more viable alternative is for you to wash your hands with soap and water or regularly sanitize after going out.
Cleaning And Disinfecting Outdoor Areas
For outdoor areas, you only have to observe routine cleaning. Places like parks and playgrounds do not require disinfection but extensive cleaning. Here are a few dos and don’ts in outdoor covid-19 sanitization.
- Don’t disinfect outdoor playgrounds. There’s no proof that disinfecting outdoor areas like parks and gardens can reduce the risk of COVID-19 to the public. Besides, it offers less efficient use of supplies.
- Wooden surfaces like play structures, benches, tables, or groundcovers such as mulch and sand are not cleaned or disinfected.
- Roads and sidewalks should not be disinfected. As the spread of the virus from these surfaces is limited, there’s less use to disinfecting.
- Metallic or plastic high touch surfaces such as grab bars and railings should be cleaned routinely.
How To Disinfect
To disinfect any object or surface, you need to;
- Keep the surface wet for an extended time frame
- Adhere to safety rules like ensuring proper ventilation and putting on the right protective gear.
Now, that leaves us with the question, what are the best household disinfectants?
There is a nice list of products that the CDC approves that can be used to fight against the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. These CDC approved Covid-19 cleaning products that can kill the virus are categorized on List N. EPA posits that these cleaning and disinfecting products present on List N is capable of killing the Coronavirus when used according to the producer’s direction.Before using any of the products, you’ll have to read, understand, and then follow the label’s instructions to ensure the product’s safe and effective use.
The list of all CDC approved coronavirus sanitization solutions are available at the EPA’s website. All of the products have duly met the EPA’s criteria for use against the virus.These products are only to be applied to objects and surfaces! To quickly find an up to par sanitization solution, locate the product’s EPA Reg No. on the label and enter the first two digits on the List N tool.
Safety For Household Disinfecting
- Read and follow the directions on the label
- Wear proper protection for your eye and skin
- Ensure there’s proper ventilation
- Use water at room temperature for dilution, unless if the label says otherwise
- Always use the recommended amount on the label
- Don’t mix chemical products randomly
- Always label diluted cleaning solutions
- Always keep the chemicals out of the reach of children
Can Cleaning Be Done With Bleach Solutions?
If you can’t find any of the products on List N, you can use diluted household bleach solutions. When properly diluted, a household bleach solution can be highly effective against Coronavirus.
Use bleach with 5.25%–8.25% concentration of sodium hypochlorite. Ensure that there’s proper ventilation and then follow the manufacturer’s application instructions. Also, check the product’s expiration date. Mixing the household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser can create fumes that can be dangerous for your health when inhaled. You definitely won’t like to put your health in jeopardy.Alcohol solutions with above 70% alcohol can be applied in destroying the virus.
Bottom Line
Even as we continue the fight against Covid-19, we must adapt to the culture of thorough sanitization. Coronavirus cleaning and disinfecting are not what you should embark on your own. Always seek the services of a specially trained cleaning crew near you.
To get the best in Coronavirus cleaning in Queens, Brooklyn & all of NYC, ChutePlus LLC 75-25 141 pl Flushing, NY 11367 (347) 671-1083 https://www.chuteplus.com/ is here for you!
