Although it feels like the days of washing groceries and sanitizing hands are over, the fact is that Covid continues to mutate, and new infections are logged every day. Even as many have returned to the office and put masks on the back burner, Covid infections continue to threaten the immunocompromised and the unvaccinated. Tragically, the Covid virus can still bring the hale and healthy to their knees.
Recent mutations of the omicron variant of Covid show a higher transmission rate and more significant immunity evasion than previous strains. This compounds the risk of serious illness should a person contract the newer, stronger variant.
Keeping common spaces such as offices, schools, gyms, public buildings, markets, and business settings clean is crucial. Commercial facilities must maintain strict vigilance and continue to book disinfecting and sanitizing services to keep their visitors, employees, patients, and staff safe and healthy.
Specialized Covid cleaning services can make sure that your office space is safe for employees day in and day out. By following CDC guidelines for reducing or eliminating harmful viruses and bacteria, specially trained Covid cleaning service providers help keep offices open and businesses running safely.
A few essential points to look for when choosing a Covid cleaning service include:
Training: Verify that your cleaning service provider has employees trained to apply cleaning agents safely. Fogs, sprays, and wipes are all used to clean, disinfect, and sanitize office spaces. Ensure your cleaning service has trained its agents to know which sprays and wipes are used with different cleaning solutions and when fogs should be deployed. A Covid cleaning company that protects its employees will be better equipped to protect yours.
PPE: Check that your cleaning service provides their team with all levels of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). When there has been an outbreak in your office space, cleaning service providers should be prepared to take precautions to protect their team, no matter the conditions.
Technique: Ask your Covid cleaning service about their approach to cleaning. There should be a clear, methodical plan for cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting your office space. Verify that the cleaning team you hire will pay special attention to high-touch areas, such as door and window handles, light switches, kitchen and food preparation areas, countertops, bathroom surfaces, toilets and taps, chair backs, touchscreen personal devices, computer keyboards, and work surfaces.
Cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitization are not created equal. If you are looking for Covid cleaning services, your team must understand the order in which these steps are performed.
Cleaning removes dirt and soil from surfaces using soap or detergents. Cleaning is the first step that Covid cleaning services will perform.
Sanitizing is a process that kills bacteria on surfaces using chemicals. It is not intended to kill viruses. According to the EPA, to be considered a sanitizer a product must reduce bacteria on a surface by at least 99.9 %.
Disinfection is the process of killing viruses and bacteria on surfaces using chemicals. Examples of surface disinfection solutions are alcohol at 70-90%, and sodium hypochlorite (bleach/chlorine) at a concentration of 0.1%. Surface disinfectant products are subject to more rigorous EPA testing requirements and must clear a higher bar for effectiveness than surface sanitizing products.
Facilities managers can engage high-quality Covid cleaning services to maintain hygiene standards and ensure their buildings stay open so work and life can carry on.
If there is a Covid outbreak or a sharp uptick in cases, contact Moores Cleaning Tri-Area for comprehensive Covid cleaning services.