How to Clean and Manage Surfaces to Avoid Coronavirus

March 31, 2020, 1:28 p.m. ·

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Avoiding COVID-19 means cleaning more than your hands. The virus can live on a variety of surfaces from three to 72 hours, according to Beth Beam from the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing. Beam is also assistant director of research for the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit.


What to Clean, How to Do It

Beth Beam, UNMC (courtesy photo)


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Beam: "Sometimes we tend to focus on things that we think are dirty, like the toilet seat and things like that. But really should focus on things that are high-touch, things that we touch a great deal. Think about your remote for your television, the handles on things like microwaves or dishwashers, anywhere your hands are touching on a frequent basis. Want to read the label and make sure that it has activity against coronavirus. Some of the typical household cleaners that are on the EPA's list for coronavirus include Lysol and Clorox. You can also use household bleach or 70 percent alcohol solutions. They're all very effective against the coronavirus. With a bleach solution, you'll want to use a third cup of the bleach with a gallon of water or four teaspoons of bleach with a quart of water, if you're mixing that in order to use it to clean. Do remember that these kinds of cleaners can be hard on your skin, so if you have a pair of disposable gloves to wear, that would be helpful in not hurting your skin as you clean. The other option is to use the non-disposable type gloves, but just remember, if you use that type of hand protection, you'll want to wash those gloves also in a fresh batch of that disinfectant after you use them to make sure that they're clean for the next time you use them."

Inside Your Car

Beam: "In your car, again, focusing on those high touch surfaces to make sure they're clean. Bleach and hydrogen peroxide cleaners can degrade the surfaces of your vehicle and so you want to be mindful of that. Another cleaning agent that can be hard on cars is ammonia. It can make the vinyl in your car actually kind of sticky and so if you have the typical disinfectant wipes, those are certainly fine to clean parts of your vehicle. If not just basic soap and water can be used to make sure that you're cleaning those high touch surfaces. And thinking about in your car what you're touching frequently, certainly your steering wheel, any of the controllers for your blinkers or for the gear shift, perhaps the radio dials or the screen on your radio. All of those components that you touch frequently and this is especially important if you're somebody who is in that cab of that car or vehicle throughout the day and perhaps going in and out of public spaces because you want to make sure that that your vehicle stays clean for your driving needs as well."

Boxes and Packages

Beam: "If a package comes in the mail and you're not comfortable with opening it, it's totally fine to set it somewhere away from where people might interact with it and just allow it to sit for two to three days and not open the package. Then, once you've put it somewhere, go ahead and wash your hands well and then come back to it in a couple of days. In a couple of days that package will dry out and desiccate and then that package will be safe to open and get whatever you've ordered. Recognize that the virus is very fragile. If what's in your package hasn't been heavily handled by anybody, more than likely it's going to just dry out and not be a problem. I would just worry about the surfaces of that package that's come to you and give it some time and then you should be safe to open it up."