CORONA VIRUS AND CLEANING…

So far the consensus on how to prevent the Coronavirus is that hand washing is really important. Washing hands with water and soap and practicing respiratory hygiene helps. This means sneezing into your elbow or a disposable tissue. To prevent transmission through droplets, people have to maintain a social distance at all times and implement COVID-19 Disinfection. So far, more than 2.5 million people worldwide have been infected, and more than 170,000 have died from Covid-19. 659,536 have recovered from the disease. These estimates are from the Johns Hopkins University. Even though these are the official figures, the latest studies suggest that we may have underestimated the number of people infected by Coronavirus, because many others recovered from the infection without exhibiting any infections. Need of Preventing Corona virus Countries are scrambling to stop the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. The US imposed a lockdown running all the way up to the end of April. The airline industry was the first casualty, as countries shut down their borders and international flights went down to mostly cargo flights. Numerous countries banned public gatherings. Some cities and organizations are setting up COVID-19 disinfection booths in public spaces. In Iran, thousands of volunteers are disinfecting entire cities with COVID-19 disinfection spray. As if COVID-19 Disinfection is not enough, schools are closed in an increasing number of countries and nonessential businesses are closing. SARS spread from civet to humans and MERS moved from camels to humans. To prevent the spread of viruses from animals to humans, people should clean up with soap immediately after being in contact with animals and cook meat until it is done. Coronavirus spreads so easily because it has a relatively lengthy incubation of up to 14 days during which infected people show no symptoms but remain infectious. This means that infected people can transmit the virus to so many others before they even know they have it. COVID-19 disinfection booths keep exposed people from spreading the virus through contact. Some patients recover without showing any symptoms at all. Several countries have stopped foreigners from entering their territories and evacuated their citizens living abroad. Cleaning of Virus Over the last few months, we have all heard the word ‘Coronavirus’ more times than we care to count. What is it? Corona viruses are a group of viruses responsible for many conditions, starting from the common cold, to MERS, and SARS. These viruses are present among different animal populations and they can sometimes spill over to humans. Even though we’ve seen many other Corona viruses, this one has seen the highest death rate compared to the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003. SARS also originated in China. The only pandemic that compares to the Coronavirus is the Spanish Flu of the early 20th Century. While SARS and MERS were more deadly, they did not spread as quickly as Covid-19. Coronavirus spreads faster than any other but kills fewer infected. Like other viruses, the virus that causes Covid-19 does not have a cure. There is no specific course of treatment for Coronavirus, but patients can receive treatment for symptoms. Vulnerable people are more likely to develop severe symptoms: the elderly, and people who are already sick and immunosuppressed. Underlying conditions like diabetes, HIV, lung disease, cancer, or heart disease make people more vulnerable to the virus that causes Covid-19. At first, the Coronavirus was only spreading within China, but all that changed on March 16th when for the first time, more cases were reported outside China than inside. The World Health Organization then labeled it a Pandemic. Scientists across the world are working to come up with a vaccine which should be ready by 2021. In the meantime, we have to make do with other prevention measures, like washing hands and maintaining social distance. As for the Coronavirus, Chinese authorities have blamed a seafood market, pangolins, bats, and even snakes for passing on the virus to humans. Our Service Specialties Cleaning There are two steps to sanitizing surfaces: Cleaning and COVID-19 disinfection Organic material on a surface makes disinfectants inactive, making it difficult to disinfect the surface. This is why it is so important to begin by cleaning the surface first. Cleaning means thoroughly removing organic matter like soil, body fluids, and respiratory droplets matter from surfaces. The virus that causes Covid-19 has the ability to survive on surfaces for prolonged periods of time. The precise amount of time it will survive on a surface depends on factors like the temperature and the humidity. High Touch Surfaces are surfaces that are frequently touched by people. These surfaces must be cleaned regularly to avoid the virus transmitting from person to person. Any surface that has visible dirt on it must be cleaned first before disinfection. A detergent solution or a soap and water solution is good enough for cleaning. Cleaning and Disinfection deactivates the virus. Disinfection You can tell the right disinfectant to use by looking at the manufacturer claims. If the manufacturer claims that the product is effective against viruses, then it is suitable. Chlorine-based disinfectants for example, are effective. If you can find ready-made disinfectants, you can use them too. If not, prepare a chlorine solution and use it. Use the right ratio to dilute the chlorine. Read the product label to find manufacturer’s instructions for dilution. Prepare the chlorine solutions just before use, because it can lose strength over time, and becomes ineffective quickly when exposed to the sun. To disinfect, wipe the area with a bleach solution and a single-use cloth. Alternatively, you can use a COVID-19 disinfection spray and wipe it off with a cloth or paper hand towel. After disinfection, the team should dispose of the cloth towels and disposable tissue, gloves, and masks. Use a leak-proof plastic garbage bin for the disposal. You can now use soap and water to wash your hands and dry them using disposable paper towels. An alcohol-based hand sanitizer can do if there is no running water on site. Prepare a Chlorine Solution Safely While Chlorine is effective at killing viruses, it is also potentially harmful to humans if used incorrectly. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for dilution. By looking at the product label, you can tell the concentration of active ingredients in the product. Wear gloves while preparing chlorine solutions, and don’t do it while in a poorly ventilated area. Work where there is fresh air. Always pour the concentrate into the water, don’t try to pour water into the concentrate as the reaction may be harmful. Don’t mix your bleach solutions with other cleaning products like toilet cleaners, vinegar, or ammonia based products. Eye protection should protect your eyes in case the chlorine concentrate splashes onto your eyes. Prepare a new bleach solution every day, don’t try to use a bleach solution prepared several hours earlier as it may have deteriorated in strength. Provide all your staff with training on how to use the chlorine solution safely. Any high traffic areas need daily cleaning and disinfection from professional disinfecting services. These include: staff dining rooms retail outlets ambulances and other patient transport vehicles cafes staff meeting rooms toilets and bathrooms Cleaning and Disinfecting Safely Cleaning personnel and volunteers providing professional disinfecting services must avoid touching their faces with their hands while cleaning. Touching your face and especially your eyes, nose, and mouth increases your risk of becoming infected with Coronavirus. Cleaning staff must wear the right protective gear. Impermeable and disposable gloves, surgical masks, eye protection, and face shields. Provide an alcohol-based hand rubs for the cleaning staff to use before and after putting on their gloves. Surgical masks and eye protection keeps them safe by preventing them from instinctively reaching to touch their eyes and other parts of their faces, thereby potentially exposing themselves. If the cleaners are dealing with areas that have body fluids or secretions like bathrooms and toilets, they will need to wear disposable full-length gowns in addition to the gloves, eye protection, and surgical masks. If you want to embark on the decontamination of common and public areas, talk to our health and safety professionals who will help you to provide the right cleaning and disinfection services for your company. We the EPSCO group will help you to keep yourself and your team safe from COVID-19.