More than three months ago, no one knew that SARS-CoV-2 existed. Now the virus has spread to almost every country, infecting more and more people. It has crashed economies and broken health-care systems, filled hospitals and emptied public spaces. It has separated people from their families, friends and also workplaces. Everywhere we look we see the headlines and news bulletins talking about the Coronavirus and its impact on our lives. Social distancing is one of the most important community-wide precautions that healthy people can take to slow or stop the spread of infectious disease, but also regular cleaning turned out to be effective against the coronavirus.
The virus is so new, there’s still a lot we don’t fully understand, and we want to avoid spreading Coronavirus misinformation. But, cleaning floors and surfaces to reduce the presence of airborne pathogens isn’t new. Since the early 20th century, clean technologies have transformed our world allowing us to live in extremely clean environments.
So, before describing how cleaning can help limit the spread of Coronavirus disease, it is necessary to understand what we are talking about starting from some simple, but fundamental questions.
What are viruses?
Viruses are tiny infectious agents that rely on living cells to multiply. They may use an animal, plant, or bacteria host to survive and reproduce.
What is a Coronavirus?
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans. In humans, several coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). COVID-19 is the name given to the disease associated with the virus, while SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2) is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
How does the Coronavirus spread?
- Person-to-person spread. There is not enough epidemiological information at this time to determine how easily this virus spreads between people, but it is currently estimated that, on average, one infected person will infect between two and three more. The virus seems to be transmitted mainly via respiratory droplets that people sneeze, cough, or exhale.
- Spread from contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. In fact, it is not certain how long the virus that causes COVID-19 survives on surfaces, but it seems the virus can also survive for a few hours or up to several days. This may vary under different conditions such as the type of surface, temperature or humidity of the environment. For this reason, the main suggestion from the World Health Organization is to clean a surface that may be infected with simple disinfectant to kill the virus and protect yourself and others. Clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water, while avoiding touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.
How to protect yourself from the Covid-19?
The importance of social distancing and proper hygiene
The primary route of transmission for the viruses is the spread through small droplets released during sneezing and coughing by an infected person. For this reason WHO is suggesting social distancing as one of the best tools to fight the spread of coronavirus. Staying more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from a person limits the number of people and infected person coming into contact before they even realize they have it.
Moreover, good hygiene is essential to help stop the spread of viruses like the Coronavirus. Everyone can slow its spread by washing their hands frequently, covering their coughs, putting tissues straight into a bin, avoiding touching their eyes, nose and mouth, cleaning regularly used objects and surfaces and ventilating their home or workspace.
There are plenty of videos to learn more about COVID-19 and how to protect yourself against it, we suggest to have a look at this one from WHO:
What about the use of floor cleaning machines?
Everybody is aware of the importance of proper hand hygiene and the frequent handwashing through the use of alcohol based hand cleaners, but we should not underestimate the fact that surfaces around us might be “contaminated” and can be a potential source of the spread of the virus. This is the reason why maintaining clean and safe surfaces, especially in high traffic areas, is paramount to infection control and an important containment measure from a public health perspective.
For this reason, it is necessary to devise a comprehensive maintenance and care plan, cleaning regularly and thoroughly with effective cleaning solutions to eliminate infection risk. One way to help eliminate this ‘underappreciated source of pathogens’ is to stop using mops to clean the floors. Manual cleaning systems, such as the mop, are often used for floor cleaning, without realizing that unfortunately they cannot guarantee the level of hygiene achieved by mechanized cleaning. Just think about the washing water, which in the manual systems is mixed in the same bucket together with the dirty one, or the pressure exerted on the floor which cannot be the same as the one achieved by a floor scrubbing machine. Mechanization of cleaning operations has therefore become indispensable to achieve high standards of cleanliness and hygiene, thus contributing to reducing the spread of bacteria and viruses that can be dangerous to our health.
Sanitizing surfaces is very important
The whole cleaning & hygiene industry is playing its part in reducing the risk of the spread of COVID-19, and the Comac Group is no less so. From first confirmed Coronavirus cases in Italy, the companies of the Group have taken the necessary measures to protect the health of all the employees and collaborators.
But, being manufacturers of professional cleaning solutions, we believe it is our duty to provide also a fast response to this emergency by supplying technologies capable of combating the spread of the virus. With this in mind, we have combined all our resources, experience and creativity to launch the Sanitizer line: powerful sanitizers capable of rapidly sanitizing small and large surfaces.
The range consists of two ride-on machines, SRO L Sanitizer and SRO XL Sanitizer, equipped with a group of nozzles installed on the rear of the machines which vaporizes the disinfectant across the entire sanitizing path, leaving the surface sanitized. The aim is to respond to the need to sanitize and disinfect large indoor areas, to allow all floors to be sanitized with a disinfectant in a very short time, thus helping in killing viruses and preventing them from infecting people. To complete the Sanitizer line, the Sanex model is also available, for the sanitization of small rooms and surfaces.
At Comac we firmly believe that having the right tools in place that support health and wellness, like floor sanitizers and floor cleaning machines, help people better maintain cleanliness and improve productivity during times of an outbreak.
And don’t forget we are always available for further advice and support on choosing the best professional cleaning solution. Contact us!
This post is also available in: Italian