How to stop the spread of germs

The coronavirus is a thousand times more contagious than the normal flu or common cold, which means people need to take extra care to protect themselves and others.

Catching germs is easy – you can pick them up by touching unclean equipment, devices, counters, tables, door hands, light switches, surfaces… the list goes on. Read cleaning advice here.

This can be extremely worrying during the pandemic, where members of the public are now being advised to not only practice diligent hand hygiene through the use of soap and hand sanitisers, but also to disinfect their home and their groceries.

In order to successfully halt the spread of germs, it’s critical to focus your efforts now on cleaning the areas of your house where germs are easily spread.

These include:

• Kitchen (cupboards, food items, tins, cans, fridge, hob, sink, surfaces, cabinets)
• Bathroom (toilet, toilet seat, toilet handle, sink, faucet, towels, laundry baskets)
• Misc areas (door handles, knobs, light switches, tables, shoes)

The only way to destroy germs is with hot water and soap to clean then a disinfectant to kill.

Hand sanitisers prove effective for this due to their alcohol content – Hunter Medical’s hand sanitiser, for example impressively kills 99.99% of germs and is proven to kill COVID-19 in 30 seconds. Buy it here.

After cleaning, it is even important to dry down any surfaces, worktops and chopping boards with a paper towel. This is because germs can survive on damp surfaces and can multiply if there is enough water.

Bear in mind to clean these germ hotspots regularly, especially after each use. People are now being advised by the NHS to not wait for a once-a-week deep clean.

It’s not just about keeping your surfaces clean but keeping your cleaning tools and equipment clean too. Cleaning aids such as mops or cloths can be germ magnets as they remain wet and often reused.

It’s therefore important during the coronavirus outbreak to either ensure they are kept germ-free or to use disposables.

Follow these tips from the NHS to keep germs from spreading through your home:

• Reusable cloths: Disinfected or washed at 60C after each use
• Washing-up brushes: Ensure to clean regularly in a dishwasher or with detergent and warm water after every use
• Mops and buckets: Use one bucket for mopping and a separate bucket for disinfecting (mops and buckets should be dried thoroughly after each use)
• Toilets: Flush after each use and use a toilet clean every few days
• Limescale: Regularly remove using a descaler
• Baths, showers and sinks: Clean daily – this is the same for shower tiles, curtains and grout
• Kitchen: All surfaces clean before and after use – wash your hands before and after the handling of any raw meat, veg and unpacking
• Floors and carpets: Steam cleaning, laundering and soaked using warm water
• Laundry: Wash hands after dealing with dirty laundry. Underwear, house linen, bed sheets and towels all to be washed at 60C. Don’t leave laundry in the washing machine – remaining germs can multiply rapidly.