COVID-19 – Keeping Your Home and Office Clean is More Important than You Think

A Clean and Sanitary Workspace is your best weapon against Coronavirus

First identified in the Hubei’s capital, Wuhan, the coronavirus outbreak of 2019 was quick to spread across the globe. On the 11th of February, 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO), gave it its official name – COVID-19. It’s important to note that, while coronaviruses are not something new, this particular outbreak is something different altogether. 

Hello everyone and welcome back to our blog. In today’s blog, we’ll talk about the COVID-19 situation and give you a couple of tips on minimising the potential threats to your company. 

Keep reading and learn everything that you need to know about COVID-19, including:

• What are coronaviruses?
• How does the COVID-19 spread?
• Who is at risk?
• How to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in your workplace
• How to minimise the risk of infections during events and meetings
• Things to keep in mind when travelling

During our talks and presentations, we often point to the importance of maintaining a clean, tidy and hygienic space. Sadly, we find that, more often than not, our words fall on deaf ears. Of course, keeping your office, storefront or client meeting areas clean is valuable from a business image standpoint – no business owner can dispute that (even though some have tried). But there is a much more important factor, yet often overlooked factor at play here – the health and wellbeing of your employees. Currently, workplace hygiene should be the number one concern of any business owner, looking to protect their company from COVID-19.

What are coronaviruses?

There are many types of coronaviruses, some of which affect humans, while others only infect animals. All of the previously observed cases have been thoroughly documented and successfully dealt with by scientists. Coronavirus symptoms are similar to those of the common flu, which has led to the general public hastily dismissing the situation at first. 

However, experts warn that, while most people that get infected with COVID-19 make a swift recovery, some individuals may experience severe symptoms. As of the time of writing this article, the virus seems to have the worst impact on the elderly, as well as those with an already weakened immune system. 

How the Coronavirus Spreads?

COVID-19 spreads similarly to flue – through fluid droplets. When an infected individual coughs or exhales, they can contaminate the nearby surfaces and spaces. If others come in contact with these surfaces and then touch their eyes, nose or mouth, they can also get infected. 

Who is at risk?

As we already noted, the majority of people, infected with COVID-19 make a swift recovery after a short period of mild symptoms. Complications are reported to occur for patients with an already weakened immune system, like those with a history of diabetes, heart or lung disease, as well as people suffering from other chronic conditions. Additionally, patients over 40 have shown to be more vulnerable than those under 40, further supporting the trend. 

How to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in your workplace?

The COVID-19 epidemic is here, and it seems like it’s here to stay, at least for the time being. As with most viral outbreaks, the absolute best way to avoid contagion is by isolating locking yourself and home and waiting for the worst to pass. From a modern business leader perspective, however, this simply is not a viable solution. But don’t worry – we’ve got the next best thing right here! We can provide you and your company with comprehensive cleaning services, ensuring that every inch of your business premises is clean, tidy and sanitary. But, most importantly, a professional provider of commercial cleaning services can give you something much more valuable than the actual cleaning itself – the benefit of experience. Under our employment, you can find experts with over 20 years of experience in the field. People, who have the information, experience and know-how to get the job done without any delays or hassles. We can get in, do what needs doing, and leave you to your work, without causing disruptions, tensions or delays. For more information about our services, please refer to our commercial cleaning page.

Bonus tips

If you’ve already scheduled your cleaning session and you’re just looking for more ways to protect yourself and your employees, then this section is just for you!

Below, we’ll list some of the most efficient and effective methods that will help you keep the virus at bay.

Here are a couple of inexpensive, yet surprisingly effective techniques that you can utilise to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in your office:

• Ensure that the entire workplace is kept hygienic at all times
• Disinfect all surface regularly 
• Promote employee hygiene 
• Communicate the need for respiratory hygiene and frequent hand-washing
• Ensure that your premises are adequately equipped with hand sanitisers, soap, tissues, face masks and disinfectant
• Actively encourage people to utilise their sick leave and seek medical assistance in case of contamination
• Work with the local authorities in spreading awareness, and, if possible, put up posters and other materials that will educate your clients and employees on the matter.

Staying safe during meetings and events

It is advisable to put events, meetings and face-to-face conferences on hold temporarily, or at least until the initial outbreak has passed. Should this prove to be unfeasible, however, there are still a couple of things that you can do to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spread.

• Seek information from your local health authorities prior to the event or meeting
• Ensure that the entire premises are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before the event takes place
• Prepare an adequate supply of hand sanitisers, soap, tissues, disinfectant and surgical masks
• Encourage your participants to practice personal and respiratory hygiene 
• Provide the participants with a quick briefing on the situation, familiarise them with the measurements that you have prepared and ensure that everyone knows where to get the needed supplies
• Try to provide participants with ample personal space

Things to keep in mind when travelling

During major virus outbreaks and epidemics, travelling is ill-advised. If possible, try to reschedule any meetings, vacations or business conferences that would require you to travel to new destinations. If you absolutely have to travel, here are a few tips on how to mitigate the risks:

• Learn as much as possible about your destination and the local situation before leaving
• Assess the possible risks and brief your associates
• Prepare an ample supply of sanitary goods and necessities – sanitisers, tissues, masks, and so on.

While travelling:

• Keep your distance from anyone displaying symptoms of sneezing or coughing
• Practice exceptional personal and respiratory hygiene
• Keep yourself up-to-date on the local situation and be ready to comply with the authorities, should the need arise.

After returning

• Keep monitoring yourself for symptoms and make sure to take your temperature at least twice per day
• If you notice any symptoms, immediately contact your local health authorities and follow their instructions

In Closing

Before we wrap things up for today, let’s quickly recap the most important takeaways from this article:

• Impeccable hygiene is crucial – this one is not debatable. Even if your friends, family or employees would generally leave something to be desired in the hygiene department, now is the worst time to indulge them. Encourage the people around you to practise better hygiene and who knows, maybe by the end of this, they’ll thank you for it!
• Remind your employees to wash their hands – not that anyone should need to be reminded of this, but a little caution can go a long way.
• People shouldn’t be coughing or sneezing in the open – if masks or other precautions are unavailable, one can always use their elbows.
• Personal space – for the duration of the outbreak, it’s advisable to keep your distance from others. Respecting personal space and all that comes to mind.
• Listen to the experts – whatever you may hear or read online, it should never, ever take precedent over the advice, provided by licensed professionals. In times of crisis, paying attention to, and cooperating with the local health authorities is crucial. 

And this concludes our summary of COVID-19. Hopefully, you found this article useful, and it has helped you understand the situation better. If you happen to have any questions about COVID-19, or if you’ve got some information, tips or tricks of your own to share, please do not hesitate to let us know in the comments below. Additionally, if you liked this post, we’ll (not-so) humbly ask you to give it a thumbs up on social media and share it with your friends. Sharing is caring, after all!

We’d also like to remind you that neither we, as a company, nor our writers, are licensed medical professionals, so always listen to your doctor first, and only use our advice as supplementation.

If you’d like to learn more about FastKlean, our vision, or our services, please head on over to our services page. Alternatively, you can also quickly and easily get in touch with our customer support team with any specific questions or queries.

Thank you for reading, and we’ll see you all next time!

© FastKlean