Tips for keeping your home clean in the time of COVID-19

Post at:
2020-04-24
ENNEWS

Tips for keeping your home clean in the time of COVID-19

BM / CN

‘Spring cleaning’, words we often hear when a festive occasion is just around the corner. This is the time where most of us will be trying to organise and clean our homes and workplaces before the festive occasion. As we’re all going through some very different times, it’s a good time for us to put on our thinking caps and think of how to improve cleanliness in our living and work area. Here are some tips that might just help you keep your home hygienic and squeaky clean.
  1. Buffer Zone and Living Zone
Dividing the space in your living room into two zones, a Buffer Zone and a Living Zone, will help prevent any infections from entering the home. The Buffer Zone will be the area between the entrance and the living space, like the foyer/ entrance hall while the Living Zone is the area where we eat and live in; the living room, dining room or the bedroom. Make sure to remove any items that may have come into contact with areas frequented by people or surfaces that people would touch, such as shoes and shopping bags in the Buffer Zone, to ensure that any possible infections won’t be carried into the Living Zone. By doing these little pre-planning steps, you won’t need to frequently disinfect or clean the living zone; twice a week should be sufficient. Reference: Greenpeace Hong Kong’s COVID-19 101 booklet
  1. General principles of cleaning
Some studies show that the virus may survive on surfaces from a few hours up to several days. Cleaning and disinfecting regularly frequently touched surfaces which include tables, chairs, cupboards, doorknobs, light switches, and window blinds is an important step to lower the risk of any infections. Remember two general principles when cleaning thoroughly: Top to bottom: The cleaning should proceed from the higher area and work your way down each floor. Clean to dirty: Always start with the cleaner surfaces and objects and then go on to clean dirtier surfaces (e.g., areas in the toilet), to prevent cross-contaminating the cleaner surfaces. Always wear disposable gloves when cleaning. Throw used gloves into covered rubbish bins when finished and wash your hands immediately. Tips: Don’t forget to clean your electronic devices such as remote controls and mobiles. Clean them with a soft cloth with suitable disinfectant and use cotton buds to clean the narrow space between buttons.  
  1. Getting workplace ready
Are you getting used to working from home during this period of time? The end is near (hopefully!) and yes, we will be going back to our offices; there are ways we can work together to make our space safer. Sanitise your workplace At the start of your day back at the office, clean your workplace with sanitising sprays or disinfecting wipes, especially the items which you would touch most often like monitor buttons, keyboard, mouse, desk phones, and don’t forget the surface of your desk. Ensuring personal hygiene Wash your hands often, especially after handling office-shared items like phones, coffee pots, door handles, elevator buttons, and light switches. Tips: Keep a bottle of hand sanitiser at your desk if soap and water aren’t easily accessible to you at your workplace. No one knows for sure when the COVID-19 pandemic will be over for good but like the end of every storm, when it is all over there will always be a sense of a new beginning in the air. For now, wash your hands frequently, take care of the hygiene at home, maintain social distancing and show love to those who may need that extra support are the best ways to do our part during these trying times.