Housecleaning can protect you from coronavirus

It has been stressed over and over again that cleanliness and maintaining hygiene is one of the most effective ways to minimise the risk of coronavirus. As most people are complying to the rules of keeping themselves clean, keeping your residential environment clean and sanitized is also of equal importance.

Housecleaning is also a good way to pass your time amid the shutdown. Here are a few ways to keep your house clean and sanitized.

If no one in your home is sick 

If no one in your home is sick with what might be coronavirus, or flu or a bad cold, you do not need to spend your days cleaning. Just focus on making sure that the virus does not come into your house by practicing social distancing and accepting deliveries safely - let nonperishables sit inside the packaging for three days until any virus dies. 

If someone in your home is sick 

In case one of your family members fall sick, keep the person isolated in one room and bathroom. Adopt the following cleaning methods for all the places the person has come in contact with:

• Clean frequently touched surfaces with soap and water, or disinfect with 70% isopropyl alcohol or bleach - four teaspoons of bleach for a litre of water. The bleach solution can be corrosive for certain surfaces, so do a patch test on any wooden, tiled, or marbled surface before using the solution.
• Wash fabrics, rugs, covers, and soft surfaces. For non-washable items such as cover-free couch or wash-sensitive carpets or rugs, do not use them for a few days and keep them separated from other furniture. 
• Wear disposable gloves whenever you're tending to the sick person. Dirty laundry from a sick person can be washed with other people's items, according to the Centre for Disease Control, as the virus likely dies at over 149 degrees. Clean or disinfect clothes hangers, balcony grills and clothes line with soapy water, or 70% isopropyl alcohol, or the above bleach mixture.
• Treat the "sick trash" like hazardous waste. The resident ill person should have their own trash can with its own trash bag. Make sure to wear gloves when removing the garbage.

Pro tip for the lazy

You can save yourself the cleaning by simply not using shared rooms, furniture, or equipment for a few days. If someone who might be carrying the virus was in your home, thoroughly clean the surfaces that person touched or could have coughed on. 

Lastly, wash your hands like your life depends on it - because it does!