In the midst of COVID-19, it’s more important than ever for all of us to be paying special attention to our cleanliness, both at home and during our day-to-day activities. COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus, has been sweeping through our news cycles, and it’s beginning to impact us more and more every day. Arizonans have been told to stay home, save for essentials, and as we experience an unprecedented state of shutdown, it’s tempting to give into panic.
But before you start envisioning the worst possible outcome, take a moment to sit down, breathe, and listen to this good news: there’s a lot that you can do at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Indeed, while Coronavirus has inspired a wide amount of fear among the populace and provoked strong government responses, there’s some good news. COVID-19, at the end of the day, is pretty wimpy in the face of soap and water. If you apply the right cleaning agents, the virus molecules easily fall apart. Ergo, as long as you’re staying disinfectd and applying appropriate measures in your home, there’s a good chance that you can prevent its spread should you come in contact with it.
In this blog post, we’ll look at what you can do at home to combat Coronavirus, and what we’re doing here at Bio-One.
Keeping Your Home Clean From COVID-19
The reason why COVID-19 has provoked such a strong response is that it’s a sneaky little virus that spreads around while its host shows no symptoms. Most of the people who start showing the telltale fever have actually had it in their system for a week or two (according to current estimates), which means that you could potentially be exposed to the virus without even knowing it.
This means that you need to be extra proactive in keeping your home clean. Even if you have no reason to believe that family members or visitors have caught the virus, it’s possible that they could be spreading it around without showing symptoms. Instead of waiting around for the problem to happen, get ahead of it. Here are some things you can do to curb the spread of Coronavirus in your home:
Sanitize All Surfaces That Are Frequently Touched
While much research is still being done on COVID-19, current research suggests that it spreads in two ways — airborne transmission (similar to a cold or flu) and surface-to-surface contact. There’s not much you can do about the former, except for distancing yourself from carriers. But with the latter, you can stop the spread of germs by disinfecting surfaces where the virus may be dwelling.
Coronavirus is capable of surviving on various surfaces for different periods of time. The more solid and smooth the surface, the greater the likelihood of it sticking around. Here are some estimates of how long COVID-19 can dwell on various surfaces, based on current research:
- Copper: 4 Hours
- Cardboard: 24 Hours
- Steel: 72 Hours
- Plastic: 72 Hours
- Glass: 96 Hours
As you can see, steel, plastic, and glass are the troublemakers here. COVID-19 can literally last for days if it makes contact with one of these surfaces, and all it takes for someone to catch it would be to touch the said surface (thus transferring some of the virus to their fingers) and then get it into their airways — something that is highly likely if you touch your face.
With that being said, here are some surfaces you should consider wiping down regularly:
- Countertops
- Windows
- Handles, knobs
- Refrigerator Doors
- Sinks, faucets
- Toilets
- Dishes and utensils
- Toys
- Remotes
- Video game controllers
- Common tools and appliances
Keep Your Phone Clean
While this could easily be lumped in with the point above, we believe it deserves its own special mention in this post, due to how glued we are to our phones every moment of the day.
Remember that bit above about how COVID-19 can survive on glass for up to four days? Yeah, that’s bad news, given that the overwhelming majority of smartphones have glass screens. Suppose one of your friends or family members has caught the virus, and you don’t even know it. Suppose you let them use your phone to snap a photo or show you a funny video. Now you’ve potentially got nasty COVID-19 molecules hanging out on the device that you carry around everywhere.
During this pandemic, it would be prudent to be careful about who you loan your phone to, even if it’s just for a moment. And, to be safe, you should wash it down at least once a day with soap and water. It’s important to be delicate — many phones aren’t waterproof, so you don’t want to overdo it. Disinfectant products and a slightly damp, lint-free cloth should do the trick, and good ol’ disinfectant wipes are also an option. You just want to make sure you’re not letting out too much liquid, if any at all — if anything gets into your phone’s internals, it could be the end of the line for your device. Be careful!
Wash, and then Disinfect
We’ve talked about cleaning the common surfaces of your home, but it’s important to know how. If, heaven forbid, somebody sneezes COVID-19 molecules all over your home, you need to be going about sanitization the right way.
Due to the nature of Coronavirus, it falls apart easily when exposed to normal soap, due to its lipid membrane layer. For DIY cleaning tasks, we recommend washing down surfaces with hot soapy water first. After you’ve done a few good passes, spray it or wipe it with a disinfectant product. To make things easy, the EPA has a comprehensive list of disinfectant products that are eligible to fight COVID-19.
The best practice is to leave the surface wet for the cleaning product’s recommended time. This allows the disinfectant to settle in and fight against any viral cells that might remain.
Wear Gloves
We confess that disinfectant gloves may be difficult to come by right now, joining the mythical ranks of toilet paper and hand disinfectr as products that are impossible to find in stores. But if you have any type of protective gloves, you’ll be better off wearing them while you clean.
It’s not like you have to put on protective gear and religiously wipe down every surface of your home every single day. But if you suspect you may have come into contact with someone who has the virus, it’s better to err on the side of caution.
What If My Home Has Been Exposed to COVID-19?
While we’ve outlined a list of general tips for keeping your home nice and disinfectd, these are all intended to be preventative measures just in case the virus might be spreading without you knowing. But if you’ve come into direct contact with someone who has been tested for the virus, you don’t want to take chances, especially if you have someone in your home who falls into one of the at-risk groups. In this kind of scenario, it would be wise to call a team of professionals to ensure that your home has been properly disinfected.
COVID-19 Cleaning Services in Tucson and Surrounding Areas
In many areas, all non-essential businesses have begun to shut down. But at Bio-One, we’re as essential as can be, due to our ability to thoroughly cleanse and disinfect areas that have been exposed to the virus. As a cleaning company that specializes in biohazards, we are uniquely equipped and trained to combat COVID-19. On days where we aren’t helping Tucson businesses and homeowners to clean up after the virus, we are doing other jobs such as blood spill cleanup, mold remediation, crime scene cleanup and more.
There is no cleaning method in the world that guarantees total and complete elimination of pathogens. But when you work with us, you’ve got the strongest fighting chance. We have been working around the clock to help protect Greater Tucson from the spread of Coronavirus. If your building has been exposed, we encourage you to give us a call today.
