Five Tips for Properly Disinfecting Surfaces
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By now, everyone has heard the advice: Wear a face mask and wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But you can lower your chances of catching or spreading the novel coronavirus by disinfecting surfaces around your apartment too. Improperly cleaning surfaces raises your chances of COVID-19 exposure, so lessen your chances of spreading the coronavirus in your home with these tips.
Disinfect common and shared surfaces daily
“High-touch” surfaces are objects that require daily disinfection. Common “high-touch” surfaces include toilet seats and handles, tabletops, doorknobs, light switches, faucets and faucet knobs, kitchen and bathroom counters, hard dining chairs, TV remotes, and game controllers. Additionally, personal surfaces such as keys, cell phones, and wallets should be disinfected.
Protect yourself while cleaning
For maximum protection, wear disposable gloves or reusable gloves while disinfecting surfaces around your home. Disposable gloves should be discarded after you finish cleaning. Reusable latex gloves should be stored away from other objects to prevent the spread of pathogensbacteria. After disinfecting surfaces in your apartment, you should wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds.
Choose the right cleaning substances
Soap and water are great for washing your hands, but they don’t thoroughly clean surfaces around your house or apartment. Disinfecting sprays, disinfecting wipes, rubbing alcohol, or hydrogen peroxide are all suitable for deep cleaning. It’s best to get a disinfectant that claims to eliminate 99.9 percent of germs. If you don’t have access to a strong disinfectant or you want a homemade option, a combination of two tablespoons of household bleach with one quart of water to make a disinfecting spray.
Don’t disinfect clothes
The best way to disinfect clothes isn’t to put disinfectant on them — it’s washing them . Wash your clothes on the warmest possible setting if they require disinfecting. Besides disinfecting clothing, you may want to disinfect clothing-related high-touch surfaces such as laundry hampers and clothing hangers.
Do more than disinfect surfaces when you live with an infected person
Disinfecting surfaces is vital if you live with somebody infected with COVID-19. Although the novel coronavirus primarily passes from person to person through airborne virus droplets, you can pick these droplets up by touching surfaces since the droplets can rest on surfaces. Making matters more dangerous is that the coronavirus can survive on surfaces for several hours or even days. Therefore, disinfecting surfaces as often as possible is crucial when you believe someone you live with might have COVID-19.
A person must self-quarantine to one room as much as possible if they might be infected. If your home has more than one bathroom, make sure that the infected person uses only one bathroom that nobody else uses. The infected person should keep utensils and other non-disposable items separate from others in the household. You should also work to maximize airflow in shared spaces using air conditioners or open windows. Most importantly, remember not to touch your eyes, nose, or mouth without thoroughly washing your hands for 20 seconds first.
Did you often disinfect surfaces before the pandemic? Are you making sure to clean surfaces now? Sound off in the comments!