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How to keep your home clean during Coronavirus

By Dr. Sandeep Budhiraja in Internal Medicine

Mar 27 , 2020 | 2 min read

Tips for disinfecting your home and common use items

Amidst this 21 days of lockdown, when each of us is confined to our homes, we still need to make sure that we don’t come in contact with the virus unknowingly.

To begin with, here are some simple tips for you to follow to keep yourself, your home and your food clean.

Physical/Social distancing

Social distancing is extremely important. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2019 novel coronavirus is spread primarily when healthy people come in close personal contact with a person who has COVID-19 who is coughing or sneezing. But someone could still get Coronavirus from touching something which has been contaminated by the virus and then touching nose, eyes or mouth. Hence, repeated hand washing.

Surface cleaning

A yet to be published study by the CDC, National Institute of Health and other institutes from the United States of America suggest that the COVID-19 virus can live for two to three days on plastic and stainless steel surfaces.

It is extremely important to keep your home clean during this time. Disinfect high-touch surfaces in your household every day especially if someone is sick. This includes doorknobs, handles, tables, countertops, keyboards,and light switches.

Tips for disinfecting surfaces in your home:

If a surface is visibly dirty then clean it with soap and water later use disinfectant.
Wear disposable gloves while cleaning the surface.
Make sure the area is well ventilated where you are cleaning.
Use a diluted household bleach solution or an alcohol-based solution with at least 70% alcohol.
Follow instructions from the cleaning product’s package and make sure you aren’t using an expired product.
Wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds after the cleaning.

Food packages and food items cleaning

Coronavirus causes respiratory illness which affects the lungs. It is not a foodborne disease and does not impact the digestive system. However, it is important to clean hands before preparing food and eating food. Clean the utensils properly in which food is being prepared and served.

Packages arriving at the doorstep or Home Delivered Goods

While that previously mentioned, the not-yet-published study found that the virus can live for up to 24 hours on cardboard, according to the CDC, the chances are low that the virus spreads from packaging that’s shipped over a period of days at ambient temperatures.

Clothes cleaning

Specific research hasn’t been conducted on how long the virus can survive on clothes, towels or other forms of fabrics. In this situation, you are advised to change and wash clothes regularly especially if you have come from outside or have been traveling to work everyday.

Try to use the warmest appropriate water setting for your clothes and dry them completely.

You can wash clothes of a sick person along with your own clothes but make sure you touch them after wearing gloves. Wash your hands with soap after removing the gloves. Don’t forget to disinfect hampers and knobs on your washer and dryer.

Skin cleaning

Germs can live on different parts of your body, but the main concern here is your hands. Your hands are what’s most likely to come in contact with germy surfaces and then touch your face, which is a potential path of transmission for the virus. It is recommended to wash your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds or clean it with alcohol-basedsanitizer frequently.