One of the best and maybe the only way to keep COVID-19 out of your home is to keep it clean. Besides, a clean house is not only good for your physical health, but your mental health as well especially during these stressful times when the risk of catching a deadly virus is just right around the corner.
Even though you may feel lazy or bombarded with activities at times that you think cleaning your house is just too much to even think about, you should know that cleaning is a pretty serious obligation especially when you share your home with loved ones.
Of course, there will be moments when you really need the time to relax and take a break from work. Or, maybe, you just don’t have the energy, strength, or resources to accomplish a day’s worth of cleaning.
If it’s a full-packed schedule, lack of cleaning know-how.
Cleaning to Keep Covid-19 Out
Why is it important to keep COVID-19 out?
Depending on the surface, temperature, and humidity, coronaviruses can survive on various materials for as long as a few hours to several days. Furthermore, it is tough to know when your home has been contaminated with COVID-19 or any other diseases; thus, it is essential to deep clean your house regularly to ensure that the virus is kept at bay.
Soft Surfaces
Soft or porous surfaces pertain to drapes, rugs, carpets, and the like. There are cleaning products made especially for disinfecting these items like Lysol Disinfectant Spray which effectively kills bacteria and viruses on such surfaces without unwanted bleaching.
If you don’t have any access to suitable disinfectants, you can always use soap and water. Soap and water are as effective as any disinfectant in killing coronaviruses because of their main ingredient which is fat. The fat in soap deactivates the lipid bilayer of coronaviruses which ultimately neutralizes the virus.
High-touch Surfaces
High-touch surfaces include tables, chairs, handrails, mobile phones, light switches, computers, laptops, tablets, keyboards, game controllers, remote controls, toys, kitchen surfaces, bathroom surfaces, toilets, and taps.
To clean and disinfect these household materials, use water and detergent or soap. However, you should be careful when handling electronics or outlets as they might electrocute you. Wipe with a damp cloth.
Cleaning Clothes and Linens
If there’s a time where washing your clothes is most important, it is now. Before, you can just air out your pants every after use for a whole week to keep it bacteria-free because that was the norm. Now, you should consider washing your clothes right after use because the coronavirus can actually live up to days on some materials.
Dishes and Cutlery
Kitchenware is an easy target for the novel coronavirus. Especially since they come in direct contact with our mouths and saliva which is the main carrier of the virus.
It is important to properly clean kitchenware with trusted dishwashing liquid or proven methods.
Dishwashers work against the virus but under specific conditions. According to research and laboratory tests performed by medical experts, the novel COVID-19 virus becomes inactive when exposed to temperatures ranging from 160 – 180 degrees Fahrenheit at a minimum of 10 seconds.
Proper Hygiene
The cleanliness of your home is necessary to prevent the COVID-19 virus from spreading in your house. And possibly infecting you or your family. Of course, cleanliness is also necessary to combat other forms of illnesses.
Prevention is better than cure and cleanliness is your first line of defense against the COVID-19 virus. However, most of the time, maximum cleanliness and a 100 percent virus-free environment are not achievable. This is where proper hygiene comes in. It is your second line of defense.
Proper hygiene during the pandemic includes frequently washing your hands, disinfecting with alcohol, regularly taking a bath, and proper coughing and sneezing etiquette.
Everyone should make it a habit to bring 70% alcohol or other hospital-grade sanitizers & disinfectants with similar effectiveness. This is important because the virus can easily be contacted from any surface upon touching it. It is more important especially when in public places.
Washing your hands with water and soap is also advised by health experts. It effectively renders the virus inactive and unable to spread, multiply or infect. As mentioned above, soap contains fat that can counteract the lipid bilayer of the virus which keeps it intact.
Final Thoughts on How To Keep COVID-19 Out
Right now, our homes are the safest place to be as the risk of catching the virus outdoors in public places is still pretty high. Although vaccines are now being mass-produced, herd immunity has not yet been established as the majority of people are still unvaccinated and unsafe. You must undertake same day COVID-19 testing in order to mitigate the spread of the virus as UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, no one is really safe until everyone is safe.
One more thing to keep in mind…
Your home can only be really safe if you observe cleanliness and hygiene. What your home offers is not immunity to the virus, but isolation from the outside world where the risk of catching the virus is higher. This means that it is your duty as a homeowner or a resident of your home to keep it secure from the virus.
The tips mentioned above are only precautionary measures to keep the COVID-19 virus at bay and once you let the virus spread in your home and infect you and your family, these tips won’t be as useful anymore.