With the imposed enhanced community quarantine, one of the means directed towards controlling the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 in the country, everyone has been forced to stay put and stay home. Yet, just because you are at home and isolated doesn’t mean you have to let your guard down and stay complacent. On the contrary, those at home can do their share by doing small things with significant impact; steps that are quite basic and easy to do.
For one, keeping your home clean and disinfected can help prevent the spread of infection at home. Frequently-touched surfaces and objects, once contaminated, play some important role in the transmission of disease, especially as COVD-19 is spread from person to person either when we cough or sneeze or through droplets.
Therefore, keeping these surfaces in our home properly disinfected and not just clean is an important step and one of the most essential things we should be doing right now.
Cleaning has the ability to physically remove organic matter such as dirt and germs. This is then best followed up by using a potent household disinfectant because while a surface may appear clean, it can still very much be host to illness-causing germs. This becomes ever more apparent as studies from the New England Journal of Medicine have shown that the COVID-19 virus can live for several hours to days in aerosols and on surfaces.
So, which frequently-touched surfaces should be regularly disinfected with a household disinfectant? Those often shared by members of the household like doorknobs, light switches, countertops, faucets, and the like. Kitchen surfaces for example can harbor foodborne bacteria as well as bacteria transferred from humans and other items. Likewise, phones, remotes, and laptop keyboards are also potential bacteria carriers.
Not to be missed out as well is the bathroom, where showers, toilets, and counters together with bathroom mats have to be disinfected too. In the bedroom, a disinfecting spray is well-suited for mattresses and pillows.
Above all these, do not forget of course to wash one’s hands with soap for minimum 20 seconds thoroughly.
So do keep in mind these tips—simple but very important steps one can and should undertake to keep everyone at home—and outside—healthy and safe.
