PLYMOUTH, Mich. – What does it take to kill the coronavirus if it finds its way to your doorstep? It turns out there are cleaning supplies that do the trick.
For all the uncertainty, fear and cancellations surrounding the coronavirus, there is a way to kill it with cleaning supplies.
Becky Arnold, of Plymouth, is the vice president of sales for A&C Property Services, a home and industrial cleaning service. She just completed Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association coronavirus training and came away impressed.
“The thing that surprised me the most regarding it is how easy it is to kill,” Arnold said.
She called the coronavirus an envelop virus or level one threat. It’s just must more contagious, which means while we might think we’re clean, we need to take our cleaning to a whole new level.
“There’s a difference between cleaning and disinfecting,” Arnold said. “So you have to clean first and disinfect and give it that time to dwell.”
Dwell time is how long your Lysol, Bleach or wipes stay wet on a surface. ISSA recommends anywhere between 2 and 10 minutes.
Wash your hands like a surgeon, then do what Arnold called a “terminal clean” by disinfecting touchpoints -- the wall, light switches and door handles -- because it left unchecked, the coronavirus is powerful.
“This will stay alive on surfaces for up to six days, so we need to take that into consideration when we’re cleaning for ourselves and cleaning for our offices and homes,” Arnold said.
If a restaurant hosts a confirmed case, to properly clean, crews in hazmat suits will fan out, using disinfectant and attacking coronavirus floor to ceiling.
“It’s not a one-and-done thing,” Arnold said. “This needs to be done on a continuous basis.”
The ways of dealing with coronavirus are ever changing. Training will continue Monday and is likely to evolve as we learn more about coronavirus in the days to come. Arnold said her crews are ready to roll with the proper gear, but expect the heightened level of cleaning to take about four times as long to complete.
Click here to visit A&C Property Service’s website. They can also be reached by calling 810-620-8371.