With the current outbreak of COVID-19, frequently cleaning and disinfecting your home is essential for keeping yourself and your family safe and healthy.
While person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 poses a much greater risk than transmission via surfaces, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces at least once a day, even if you’re not leaving the house. That’s because anytime items or people come in and out of your home, there’s some possibility of exposure.
A recent study found that the novel coronavirus can remain in the air for up to three hours and live on surfaces such as cardboard for up to 24 hours, and plastic and stainless steel for up to three days.
Here are a few ways to make sure you are properly cleaning and disinfecting your home and keeping your household as germ-free as possible.
The Difference Between Cleaning and Disinfecting
It’s important to note that cleaning a surface – simply removing dirt and particles – is not the same thing as disinfecting it to kill viruses and bacteria.
There are many products you can use to clean hard surfaces, like soapy water and vinegar. And while cleaning high-traffic surfaces to remove contaminants, dust and debris is a necessary step of cleaning your home, you still need to disinfect those surfaces from the novel coronavirus.
Disinfecting Against COVID-19
You don’t need to clean your house from top to bottom each day, but you should focus on disinfecting the areas that are hot-spots for germs. These are the most important items to disinfect every day:
- Cupboard and drawer knobs/pulls
- Faucets
- Kitchen and bathroom counters
- Toilets, especially the seat and handle
- Refrigerator, dishwasher, oven and microwave handles
- Remote controls and game controllers
- Cell phones, tablets and other mobile devices
- Computer keyboards and mice
- Door knobs/handles
- Table surfaces
- Staircase railings
- Light switches/switch plates
If possible, wear disposable gloves and discard them after disinfecting. If you have reusable gloves, be sure to disinfect them after you’re done. And always remember to wash your hands before and after you clean and disinfect your home.
What we recommend at DSS-Panama
Once your maid has done a deep cleaning of your home, we take over and do a thorough disinfecting utilizing the best equipment money can buy. We do not do hospitals or clinics and limit any cross contamination by disinfecting our equipment and clothes prior to visiting your home.
It’s a simplistic analogy, but the disinfection and antimicrobial solutions that our Technician is applying through this sprayer combine to be something of a “super primer” that acts as a baseline of foundational cleanliness that enhances a margin of safety for all touch points.
This is a very different technology and application than some of the “fogging” treatments you might have seen in other public spaces.
The electrostatic application causes droplets of both the disinfection agent and antimicrobial cleaner to produce a fine mist that wraps around all surfaces and coats in a way that human hands simply can’t touch. And according to the manufacturer, the combination of the electrostatic charge plus the cleaners we’ve chosen for the program create droplets that cling to every surface with a force that’s 75 times stronger than the pull of the Earth’s gravity!
The solutions meet MINSA’s strict standards for safety and is an EPA-registered solution.
Here is a video of a home we finished
Our equipment is being used by many major hotel chains and airlines.
And Always – Keep Washing Your Hands
It’s been repeated countless times, but that’s because it’s true: no matter what you do, the best way to lower your risk of contracting COVID-19 or passing it to someone else is to wash your hands.
The CDC recommends a vigorous 20-second scrub with soap and water that extends beyond the hands to the wrists, between the fingers and under the fingernails.
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Stay Safe!!