Introduction
The pandemic is taking a toll on everything. From daily activity to the economy and also climate change. According to Handy, at the present moment, self-quarantine is the best way to restrict the spread of the coronavirus. However, the virus has variable limits of survival on different surfaces. While nothing is certain, new research shows that the coronavirus may survive on steel and plastic for as many as 3 days and that survival time gets reduced to mere hours for other surfaces like copper. Let’s look at the best methods to disinfect a surface:
The Methods
- The disinfectants – First of all let’s look at the disinfectants that are effective for killing off the virus from different surfaces. You can use:
- Disinfectant spray – Clorox, Lysol, Purell or other brands
- Disinfectant wipes – Lysol, Clorox, and similar brands
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Isopropyl Alcohol
Remember that soap or similar detergents are the best force to kill off coronavirus. They are great coagulants and completely destroy the virus by coagulating the cell wall (made from fat) of the virus. So, if you are using such detergents and soapy water to clean your home that is good enough. Disinfectants are really useful for surfaces that can’t be cleaned with soapy water. If the stores are out of disinfectants, you can always make some yourself with regular household bleach and water.
- Mail Packages – While you are locked up at home you are probably making a single trip a week for your groceries or have stocked up on essentials and depending on Amazon and other delivery services to get you through the quarantine. However, research shows that the novel coronavirus can live for as long as 24 hours on cardboard and up to three times that time on plastic.
While most packages enter the country via sea and air and probably cover that time period, there are other ways for contamination. For instance, if the courier handles or the delivery guy sneezes or coughs on the package or just touches them with contaminated hands. So, for good measure, you should do a once over with some disinfecting wipes.
- Your Smartphone – Here’s where you are at high risk of infection with something that you can’t do without and that’s extremely tricky to clean. Your smartphone is put over multiple surfaces throughout the day and you touch it a thousand times throughout the day. Other than wiping your smartphone with disinfectants, a better way is to have it wrapped in a clear and touch-enabled waterproof pouch that people buy for angling or surfing.
That eliminates small ports and crevices that are hard to clean. You can wipe off the pouch easily without worrying about damaging your phone. The only trade-off is that your beautiful smartphone becomes ugly during the quarantine period. A small price to pay for staying safe.
Conclusion
Handy suggests you limit yourself to your home unless it is absolutely essential to go out. You may disinfect surfaces throughout the whole day. However, the best method to restrict the virus and ride out the pandemic is to self-quarantine.
