Cleaning companies in relation to Covid-19.
What you need to know about cleaning, its terminology, and will you be able to hire someone to help you if the need should arise
There is quite a bit of discussion from people in Carpet Cleaning and cleaning companies in general, about what is what. Not that you would see any of this or hear about it, but it is there, and you should be careful with information you come across.
There are a lot of claims to kill, disinfect, or sanitize stuff around your house. Disinfect, sanitize, and kill all have a different meaning according to the CDC. This is taken directly from their website.
In other words, to sterilize means to destroy all forms of life, where disinfect means it will eliminate most form of life, with exceptions, but might kill all forms. Confusing huh?
There seems to be some gray area (mostly due to misinformation), on what means what. And the fact disinfecting might kill all microorganisms but also might not.
What does this mean for a home owner or facility manager?
Great question (see you are much smarter than these other guys). As of now, its a “do the best you can” kind of situation. You have to have seen the “wash your hands for 30 seconds” articles everywhere. Not much about the area around you though. Well… here is good news (well not really good, but good because the fact there is some info for you).
According to a report written by a lot of really smart people, and submitted to the New England Journal of Medicine here is a list of the half-life (how long something is active) and viability (how long it is detectable) of the Covid-19 virus on various surfaces. For some it is a long time. Plastic and stainless steel being the longest, while cardboard and ‘in the air’ are the shortest. Still to long if you ask me, at 1-2 hours.
Keep that in mind when going outside and licking the handrail at the apartment complex. Or when you go to the store and grab a pack of toilet paper. Yes you can 100% bring that into your house or place of work.
What should you do?
I have no idea! And I am not the right guy to ask.
What CAN you do?
Well now, that’s different. Clean Clean Clean. And when you are done, clean it again. Yes, you can hire a cleaning company. CISA (the government agency responsible for who declares an essential business or not) has added residential and facility cleaning companies to the long list of essential business
· “Manufacturers, technicians, logistics and warehouse operators, and distributors of…cleaning, sanitizing, disinfecting or sterilization supplies, and tissue and paper towel products”
· “other service providers who provide services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences.”
· “Support required for continuity of services, including janitorial/cleaning personnel”
There are obvious precautions you can take. However, it has never been more abundantly clear the importance of cleanliness. You will spend over 90% of your life (i just made that statistic up but sounds good right?) in your home and place of work. Make sure you’re doing everything you can to keep it clean.
