Disinfecting High Touch Areas
Although there is no way to guarantee that the coronavirus (COVID-19) will not enter your building or office, there are ways to properly clean and disinfect to slow the spread of it if it does. Here are some tips on how disinfecting high touch areas slows the spread of the coronavirus in your office (these pictures were taken in a warehouse in Columbia, SC by the janitorial service division.
Without proper testing, it is virtually impossible to tell whether the coronavirus is present in your office or building. However, if it is present, hand washing and wearing gloves will reduce the likelihood of spreading it from person to person. But simply wearing gloves and washing your hands will not permanently remove it from a surface.
Many reports have shown that disinfecting high touch areas will slow the spread of the coronavirus around the office. However, using a medical-grade disinfectant on those same surfaces can eliminate the virus completely. Sanitizing the surface will make it safer, but disinfecting high touch areas will reduce the viral load and likely kill it. A good rule of thumb is that if the disinfectant you are using hasn’t been proven to kill COVID-19, see if it has been proven to kill another enveloped virus. If it has, simply double the normal dwell time. This method doesn’t guarantee that the virus will be neutralized, but the viral load should be reduced significantly. Disinfecting high touch areas, such as doors, lightswitches, paper towel dispensers, ladders, hand trucks, forklift gears, dollys, pallet jacks, water fountains, and soap dispensers daily should reduce the threat of COVID-19 if it enters your building. If you do not feel comfortable applying a disinfectant yourself, you can hire a commercial cleaning company that specializes in coronavirus cleaning or virus cleaning.
Biohazard remediation companies are properly trained for environmental disinfection, unlike most janitorial services or commercial cleaning services. Biohazard remediation generally involves pre-cleaning a surface, testing the surface for viral load, then applying an EPA-registered disinfectant for the proper dwell time. Hoarding cleanup services and bed bug cleaning companies should be knowledgeable in this area as well. A follow-up ATP test is generally completed after applying the disinfectant. It is a great procedure for disinfecting high touch areas. For more information on biohazard remediation companies throughout the United States, visit ABRA at https://www.americanbiorecovery.org/.
