Cleanliness is an essential aspect of infection prevention, and there’s no better place to practice this than in our homes. We must keep our homes clean from the virus because by doing this, we increase our family’s resilience while also decreasing the chance of the virus living in our homes.
We have created various vaccines for the COVID-19 virus. We have inoculated the majority of the population, and yet there’s a huge chance that we will still have to stick with quarantine protocols in the future. This is because the virus can still infect people who have already been vaccinated. Experts believe that disinfection and cleanliness are the first steps we can take to ensure that we don’t get infected.
COVID-19 Living on Surfaces
The COVID-19 virus can live on surfaces for many days. Not disinfecting various surfaces in our homes after a visitor has left exposes ourselves and our families to a potential infection.
Studies have found that the virus can survive on various surfaces in our homes. It’s estimated that the virus can live for about a month on surfaces like paper money and phone screens. On ceramic or metal surfaces, the virus can live for two to five days. On copper and fabric, the virus can last for only a few hours.
Temperature also plays a big role in the virus’ survival. At moderate temperatures, the virus is likely to survive much longer. So a virus living in paper money or phone screen at moderate temperature can survive for more than a month.
Disinfection
Disinfection is essential if we don’t want the virus to stay in our homes for many days without knowing about it. We want our homes to be the safest place we can be, achieving this through disinfection. Disinfection requires us to wipe surfaces that are touched a lot in our homes, especially by visitors. This includes doorknobs, tables, handles, light switches, and more. Use alcohol and wet any cloth with it. If you don’t have access to alcohol, bath soap can be a good alternative. The fat in the soap is enough to kill any virus living on the surfaces of your home.
Keep an eye out for the utensils your visitors use. Ensure that these utensils are washed properly by dishwashing soap if you had dinner with your visitors. Also, avoid sharing utensils if you can.
If you don’t think you have the time to disinfect your home, consider hiring a local cleaning business to do it for you. They’re usually equipped with disinfecting equipment that can make your home’s disinfection a breeze.
Keeping Our Homes Clean
Keeping our homes clean does not only mean that we keep wiping our surfaces every day. It also means keeping all sorts of dirt and dust away in our homes.
Dirt and dust might not carry the virus, but they can certainly jeopardize our immune system. A botched immune system can be one of the reasons why you get infected. To keep dirt and dust away from your home’s interior, consider buying resilient customized doormats. This is to ensure that anyone who goes into your home keeps any dirt behind. You can also purchase ones that come with a foot bath.
You should also consider installing window screens so that dirt and dust won’t fly inside your home. It is an expensive investment but required if you want to keep your home clean in the coming years.
Proper Hygiene
Practicing proper hygiene is also essential. If you have visitors coming to your home, ensure that they disinfect themselves beforehand. Leave a bottle of alcohol near the front door so they can do exactly that.
It’s also crucial that they wear their personal protective equipment (PPE), such as face shields and face masks, when inside your home. Before any meal, people should wash their hands intensively, as this could easily be the most vulnerable time for everybody. Avoid touching your eyes or your mouth even if you’re at home. You’ll never know. The surfaces you’ve touched might have the virus.
Lastly, if you’re still working outside, ensure that you take a good bath the moment you get home. The soap and water should be enough to rinse any bacteria or virus that might have stuck into your body when you were outside. Immediately wash your clothes through a washing machine as well, to ensure that no virus has stuck in the surface of your clothes.
The virus is going to be stuck with us for quite some time. This is why we should keep our homes clean and disinfected, follow proper hygiene procedures. By doing these things, we keep ourselves and our family members safe from the virus.
