Cleanliness is no longer just an admirable virtue a person must possess, but it’s an essential armament for surviving the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Striving for cleanliness in both your body and in your living space could spell the difference between remaining negative or becoming positive for COVID-19. Like all values, cleanliness must begin in the home or in your personal living space.
Keeping your condo clean and virus-free, then, must be your top priority to keep each family member safe from the virus. It might be a strenuous task, but these tips will definitely be helpful, even if you lack the time to clean daily. After all, your condo or apartment serves as your sanctuary now that everyone’s discouraged from going to public places.
This article provides cleaning tips and suggestions for fussy condo and apartment owners who want to keep their loved ones safe. Read this guide on how to disinfect your home, to keep it novel coronavirus-free:
1. Acquire and procure cleaning supplies and materials
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Cleaning supplies and products that stave off the novel coronavirus is readily available in the market. U.S.-based Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides a list of products that are effective in killing the virus. Notable on this list are disinfectants such as Lysol and bleach-based products.
Detergent is most effective in cleaning hard surfaces, as it dissolves the lipids of the virus cell which causes it to attach on surfaces. Hand soaps are more effective than alcohol and hand sanitizers in keeping one’s hands clean from the virus.
Aside from these cleaning agents, be sure to also acquire gloves to keep your hands protected from contamination, as well as from the harsh properties of the aforementioned products since these items could also irritate your skin.
Always remember to read the label of these products before using them or storing them away. Mishandling of these home care supplies could also spell disaster in the household.
2. You shall not pass—unless you are clean
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Imagine your whole condo as an enclosed safe bubble and anything that comes close to it from outside could potentially burst its protective barrier.
In a time where having goods and household items delivered is the norm, making sure these items are disinfected before bringing them inside your condo is a sure-fire way to keep your condo clean.
The same goes for anyone who leaves the house for work or important errands. Be sure that that person has access to a mini-disinfection station when he/she comes home.
Place a small table near the doorway where disinfecting items such as alcohol with at least 60% Isopropyl can be placed and readily made available. This way, that person could kill some of the viruses with the Isopropyl in his/her hands before walking in the condo towards the sink where he/she could then hand wash properly.
Remember that anything and anyone who comes from outside may act as a catalyst and bring the novel coronavirus in your condo. Do not allow them entry until they undergo or follow proper disinfecting protocol. Think of entryways to your condo as a police checkpoint where the virus may be apprehended.
3. Learn how to clean different surfaces at home
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The New England Journal of Medicine published an article showing the duration of the virus’s lifespan on different surfaces that are common in the household.
The article explained that COVID-19 “[W]as more stable on plastic and stainless steel than on copper and cardboard, and the viable virus was detected up to 72 hours after application to these surface.”
The following chart created by The Business Inder’s Shayanne Gal, based on the New England Journal of Medicine study, depicts the lifespan of the virus on different surfaces:
In cleaning hard (non-porous) surfaces, the CDC recommends the use of EPA approved products, as earlier mentioned.
The use of disposable gloves is recommended when handling these cleaning agents. When using reusable gloves, they advised that the gloves should be reserved for the same cleaning task and not used in other chores and activities.
The same could be said for soft (porous) surfaces. Simply follow the recommended use of EPA-approved cleaning products such as sprays. Place porous items such as curtains and linens in the laundry, as advised by the manufacturer.
4. Regularly replace linens, pillowcases, and bedsheets
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Currently, it is unclear how long the novel coronavirus lasts on linens, bed sheets and pillowcases, but it’s a good idea to always keep these fresh, to make sure they are virus-free.
No matter how often you wash your hands, the novel coronavirus might latch on a different part of your body which could be transferred on surfaces at home, particularly in the bedroom. Linens, pillowcases, and bedsheets are examples of surfaces susceptible to any virus; so regularly replace and wash them properly.
Getting a hamper where you could separate your dirty clothes from the ones you use.
5. Keep commonly touched household items clean
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The hands act as the primary receptacle of the novel coronavirus, thus making transmission from person-to-person viable. Aside from direct skin-to-skin contact, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explained that viral cells may also spread when an infected person touches an item and another person also touches the same item. This is why it’s essential to religiously wash your hands even if you don’t go outside.
Disinfecting and cleaning items commonly touched by members of your household should be added to your effort in keeping your condo spotlessly clean. Sanitize and clean the following all the time:
- door knobs;
- TV remote controls;
- light switches;
- buttons of appliances;
- refrigerator handles;
- stove knobs; and
- toilet flushes
Encourage your family to sanitize whenever they come in contact with these things inside your home.
Cell phones should also be kept in check. Take it upon yourself to sanitize them as often as possible. Ethanol wipes or cotton dabbed in alcohol should be sufficient to keep your mobile devices sanitized.
6. Install trash bins specifically for used PPEs
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Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as single-use disposable masks has been successfully incorporated into everyday life in the wake of the pandemic. Disposing face masks properly is just as important as handling them correctly.
Add a trash bin with a foot pedal that opens its cover at your doorway, so household members could efficiently dispose of their used face masks.
First, make sure to put in a large enough garbage bag with its flaps protruding away from the cover. These flaps are what you will be holding while wearing gloves when disposing of the entire bag once it’s full. Clean the trash bin with EPA-approved disinfectants before placing it back at the doorway.
7. Provide an isolation room when necessary
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No matter how often you clean, if there’s a person inside your condo who’s constantly exposed to the virus, your efforts are in vain. If there’s a high-risk person in your condo, the best practical cleaning tip is to isolate this possible spreader.
Preventing the virus from spreading in your household is better than fastidiously cleaning your condo without considering its possible carrier. This is in line with the quarantine efforts that have begun to ease–thanks to the government’s decision to revive the economy. Most people have also begun to go back to their regular jobs–thus increasing the risk of exposure.
When a breadwinner of the household is one of those people enjoined to return to the workplace, it’s a good idea to provide them an isolation room where they can avoid contact with other family members. This is a must, especially for those households who have frontline workers in the family. Encourage the isolated person to read this list; so he/she can properly clean the room.
By following the tips listed in this guide to keep your condo clean, the viral transmission could be effectively mitigated or halted altogether with the help of proper isolation measures.
Cleaning your condo or living space may be an arduous task demanded by the new normal, but it is fundamental in keeping loved ones safe, as we await a vaccine.
Being responsible members of society should begin in the home. Create a more liveable living space by learning how to clean your condo properly in the time of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
