The current global pandemic changed the habits we have at home. Protection against COVID-19 means that your home needs to be disinfected constantly. Proper hygiene and disinfection are the main steps that you should take to protect the safety and health of your family. Before engaging a disinfection service Singapore company, you should probably read this.
According to virologists, the spread of COVID-19 is mainly caused by person-to-person transmission. The CDC recommends cleaning and disinfecting all contact surfaces once per day. This routine is recommended, especially if you leave the house as it increases exposure risk. Precautions need to be taken according to one of the many recent studies, SARS-COV-2 can survive suspended in the air for up to 3 hours. On surfaces such as cardboard, SARS-COV-2 can survive for up to 24 hours. On other types of surfaces such as metal or plastic, the virus can survive for up to 3 days and during that time it remains transmittable to humans.
The warnings and recommendations from CDC are concerning but there are ways to reduce contamination risks. Constant disinfection of contact surfaces must become a daily routine.
Cleaning Vs. Disinfection
Cleaning a surface means that all large particles that are visible to the human eye are removed. Some smaller particles that are not visible but palpable are also removable through cleaning. What cleaning fails to do is kill viruses and bacteria. Cleaning only helps transfer the bacteria and viruses from one surface to another one and spread them across, contaminating a large surface.
A proper routine usually involves a two-step process. Hard surfaces must be cleaned first using any type of detergent and vinegar. Vinegar can kill some bacteria but it is not efficient enough for areas with high- traffic. Contaminants, bacteria, and viruses can only be removed using a proper disinfectant. To minimize the risk of contamination, the pieces of cloth or cleaning tools used must also be disinfected or discarded safely as they may be carrying viruses and bacteria that survived in the detergent and vinegar.
Products That Kill SARS-COV-2
Some cleaning products do have the properties of a disinfectant but they may not be able to kill coronaviruses such as SARS-COV-2. Also, labels do not clearly state if they are efficient against coronaviruses.
The EPA and CDC have a list of recommended disinfectants that are efficient against the novel coronavirus. Most of these products are commonly found in most stores such as the following:
- Wet wipes such as Clorox wipes, Lysol, and similar
- Sprays such as Clorox, Lysol, and Purell
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Hydrogen peroxide
Many may be found stuck inside their homes due to different restrictions. If you are in such a situation and cannot procure proper disinfectants, you can make your own at home using some basic and common ingredients. The CDC has published simple instructions on how to make disinfectants at home in the form of bleach-based liquids that can be used in spray bottles. As sodium hypochlorite, the main active substance in bleach, can burn human skin after prolonged exposure, make sure that you use protective gloves. Also, bleach may affect different types of surfaces and textiles thus it should be applied in moderation and possibly tested first. Surfaces that can be damaged by bleach will need to be cleaned using an alcohol-based solution to sterilize and prevent Covid-19 contamination.
