How to Disinfect Your Facility for COVID-19

You want to provide a clean and safe environment for employees and customers and stop the spread of germs and viruses that make people sick. If you are wondering how to disinfect COVID-19, you are not alone. Since the coronavirus pandemic started, keeping facilities safe and healthy has become a primary concern for businesses.  Here is what you need to know.

How to Disinfect Your Facility for COVID-19

The Center for Disease Control says the best way to control the spread of COVID-19 in facilities is to clean and disinfect and recommends that you follow a two-step process to get rid of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Cleaning

Regular cleaning removes germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces. It does not kill all germs, but it lowers the number of germs left on surfaces and reduces the risk of spreading infection.

When trying to disinfect facilities, many people skip this first step. They jump right to using disinfectant sprays or wipes. This is a mistake because a dirty surface may still be dirty even if it has been sprayed or wiped with a disinfectant. Dirt and grime can also trap pathogens and stop the disinfectant from reaching them.

To stop the spread of COVID-19, the CDC recommends routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces and regular cleaning and disinfecting of high-touch surfaces such as tables, light switches, doorknobs and handles, phones, keyboards, faucets, and countertops.

Disinfecting

Once cleaning is complete, the disinfection phase can begin. The EPA maintains a list of disinfectants that meet its criteria for use against COVID-19. Only disinfectants on the EPA’s list should be used and service providers should follow all instructions. For example, you cannot just spray disinfectant on a surface and immediately wipe it off. You need to keep the disinfectant on the surface for the recommended contact time for it to be effective. Good-quality disinfectants can kill 99.9% of germs, viruses, and bacteria, but only if you let it sit on a surface long enough. Most disinfectant cleaning solutions will work within the first 10 minutes of application.

Antimicrobial Protection

Once a facility has been properly cleaned and disinfected, it will be 99.99% free of germs, viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. However, that does not prevent it from becoming contaminated again because surfaces can accumulate germs and microbes within hours. This is why many facilities have turned to antimicrobial surface protection to ensure extra protection between regular cleaning and disinfecting treatments.

A sanitized antimicrobial protection treatment is designed to bond with surfaces and inhibit the growth of germs and bacteria. It prevents germs from accumulating on surfaces.

Antimicrobial surface protection products work by coating viruses upon contact and aggressively attacking the proteins in them. They also attack the genetic makeup of viruses and stop the DNA from replicating, which controls its growth.

The best antimicrobial surface protection products are effective across a broad range of pathogens, and are also:

• Eco-friendly
• Non-toxic
• Non-leaching
• Non-adaptable

While antimicrobial surface protection is not a substitute for regular cleaning and disinfection, it lasts for up to three months. Therefore, it can help reduce the spread of germs and bacteria between cleanings and disinfection.

Electrostatic Spraying

Another option for more complete protection of your facility from germs and viruses, such as the Coronavirus, is electrostatic spraying. OpenWorks elite network of service providers are fully trained in the application of antimicrobial surface protection with electrostatic sprayers.

Electrostatic spraying is used as part of a disinfection service. A specialized sprayer atomizes and provides a positive electric charge to disinfectants. When the mist is dispensed, it adheres to negatively charged surfaces such as walls, floors, desks, and computer equipment and forms a tight bond. Since positives repel each other, the positively charged droplets spread out evenly across surfaces wrap around objects and penetrate hard-to-reach places.

It has a highly efficient delivery method. The charged particles bond instantly and the disinfectant kills 99.99% of all pathogens within 1-5 minutes. Electrostatic spraying can take less than half the time of conventional commercial disinfecting methods and use significantly fewer chemicals.

OpenWorks’ elite network of commercial cleaning and disinfecting service providers can deploy electrostatic disinfection services according to CDC, EPA, and OSHA guidelines to help prevent the spread of harmful infections, such as flu and coronavirus.

How to Disinfect COVID-19 at Your Facility

When you are trying to figure out how to disinfect COVID-19 at your facility, regular cleaning and disinfecting from a commercial cleaning company, such as one that’s part of OpenWorks elite network of service providers, can go a long way to creating a healthier environment. 

OpenWorks' elite network of service providers is comprised of experienced professionals that provide cleaning and disinfecting as part of their total facilities management programs.

Request an estimate from OpenWorks today to discuss the benefits of antimicrobial surface protection and customize a plan to make your facility healthier, cleaner, and safer.