{"id":4080,"date":"2020-04-01T12:03:42","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T16:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/?p=4080"},"modified":"2020-03-31T17:09:20","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T21:09:20","slug":"keep-safe-from-covid-19-with-careful-home-cleaning-and-disinfecting-strategies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/keep-safe-from-covid-19-with-careful-home-cleaning-and-disinfecting-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep Safe from COVID-19 with Careful Home Cleaning and Disinfecting Strategies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1.-AGS-Geriatrics-HCPs-Logo-BLUE-AND-ORANGE.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4044\" src=\"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1.-AGS-Geriatrics-HCPs-Logo-BLUE-AND-ORANGE-300x106.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"106\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1.-AGS-Geriatrics-HCPs-Logo-BLUE-AND-ORANGE-300x106.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1.-AGS-Geriatrics-HCPs-Logo-BLUE-AND-ORANGE-768x270.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1.-AGS-Geriatrics-HCPs-Logo-BLUE-AND-ORANGE-1024x361.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1.-AGS-Geriatrics-HCPs-Logo-BLUE-AND-ORANGE-500x176.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1.-AGS-Geriatrics-HCPs-Logo-BLUE-AND-ORANGE.jpg 1224w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>With all of the news about the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), you may be worried about how to keep your home safe from the virus.<\/p>\n<p>There is still much we don\u2019t know about how the virus is transmitted, or how long it remains infectious on surfaces or in the air. However, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/prepare\/cleaning-disinfection.html\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a> offers a number of cleaning tips for limiting the virus\u2019s survival in your immediate surroundings.<\/p>\n<p>To clean and disinfect most effectively, you need to use a two-step cleaning process when you\u2019re dealing with a virus like COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clean<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Step one is to remove germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces. Clean in your usual manner, using soap and water on highly touched surfaces. Wear disposable gloves during the cleaning process. Discard the gloves after cleaning.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The surfaces to clean include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tables<\/li>\n<li>Doorknobs<\/li>\n<li>Light switches<\/li>\n<li>Countertops<\/li>\n<li>Handles<\/li>\n<li>Desks<\/li>\n<li>Phones<\/li>\n<li>Computer keyboards<\/li>\n<li>Toilets<\/li>\n<li>Faucets<\/li>\n<li>Sinks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Cleaning alone does not kill germs, but it can remove some of them. This can lower their numbers and make them less likely to spread infection.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Disinfect<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Step two is to kill germs using a disinfectant. Effective disinfectants include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A diluted bleach solution. Do not use bleach without diluting it first. Add 1\/3 cup (5 tablespoons) of bleach to one gallon of water. (If you want a smaller amount of solution, add 4 teaspoons of bleach to one quart of water.)<\/li>\n<li>Alcohol solutions that contain at least 70% alcohol.<\/li>\n<li>Products labeled as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/pesticide-registration\/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2\">\u201cEPA-registered household disinfectants\u201d<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Be sure the product is appropriate for the surface you\u2019re cleaning, and that it\u2019s not past its expiration date. Unexpired household bleach is effective against the coronavirus when properly diluted, says the CDC.<\/p>\n<p>Wear disposable gloves during the disinfecting process. Throw them out when you are done.<\/p>\n<p>Follow label instructions to make sure you\u2019re using the product properly. Do not mix cleaners and disinfectants unless the labels indicate it is safe to do so. Make sure to open windows to ventilate the room as much as possible to avoid fumes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stay Empowered, Stay Informed<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/index.html\">CDC 2019 Novel Coronavirus Information Hub<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/q-a-detail\/q-a-coronaviruses\">Frequently Asked Questions from the World Health Organization<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/acl.gov\/COVID-19\">Coronavirus Disease Update from Administration for Community Living<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With all of the news about the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), you may be worried about how to keep your home safe from the virus. There is still much we don\u2019t know about how the virus is transmitted, or &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/keep-safe-from-covid-19-with-careful-home-cleaning-and-disinfecting-strategies\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[107,256,257],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4080"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4080"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4084,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4080\/revisions\/4084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthinaging.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}