Deep clean (COVID-19)

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a deep clean is a sanitation technology.^[1] Depending on the industry^[2] or jurisdiction, it can mean different things. For example, the UK NHS care home guidelines^[3] differ from the US CDC recommendations on “How to clean and disinfect”.^[4] The EPA has created a COVID-specific webpage on which are listed disease-specific pesticidal disinfectants ^[5] and has created a webpage on “GUIDANCE FOR CLEANING AND DISINFECTING”^[6] in the context of the April 2020 plan, “Opening Up America Again“.^[7]^[8]

In certain jurisdictions, a deep clean must be performed by staff “who have been trained in the use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)”.^[3]

Industry-specific[edit]

Airlines[edit]

By Mid-March 2020, Delta Air Lines had developed a fogging procedure to “spray a mist of disinfectant on surfaces throughout the cabin on all trans-Pacific flights arriving in the U.S. and flights from Italy landing in certain American airports. It plans to extend the procedure, its website says, to trans-Atlantic flights coming from areas with reported cases of COVID-19.”^[2]

Southwest Airlines said in March 2020 that it “now uses a hospital-grade disinfectant throughout the plane during overnight cleaning instead of its former practice of using that only in select areas like the restroom.”^[2]

Cruise lines[edit]

Carnival Cruises had instituted a night-time “deep-cleaning and disinfection [procedure] is conducted utilizing electro-static applications through specialized machines in highly-trafficked public areas (including all restaurants, the fitness centre, spa, lido deck areas, promenade, casino, medical centre, public restrooms, lounges, bars, lobbies, elevators, atrium, youth activity centres, arcade and all crew public areas).”^[9]

References[edit]

^ ZHANG, SARAH (15 March 2020). “America’s Deep-Cleaning Boom”. The Atlantic Monthly Group.
^ Jump up to ABC Knight, Victoria (17 March 2020). “Ships, Planes And Other Spots Are Getting A ‘Deep Clean.’ What’s That Mean?”. NPR.
^ Jump up to ^a ^b “COVID-19 Deep cleaning guidance in Care Homes”(PDF). www.infectionpreventioncontrol.co.uk. National Health Service.
^ “COVID-19: Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Facility”. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. 5 January 2021.
^ “Pesticide Registration – List N: Disinfectants for Coronavirus (COVID-19)”. Environmental Protection Agency. 15 December 2020.
^ “Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses, Schools and Homes”(PDF). 28 April 2020.
^ “Opening Up America Again”. Whitehouse.gov. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
^ WOOLFOLK, JOHN (17 April 2020). “Coronavirus: How Trump’s plan for reopening America compares with California’s”. MediaNews Group, Inc. The Press-Enterprise.
^ “HEALTH AND SAILING UPDATE”. Carnival Corporation. 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020.

surface cleaning

After being expelled from the body, coronaviruses can survive on surfaces for hours to days. If a person touches the dirty surface, they may deposit the virus in the eyes, nose, or mouth, where it can enter the body and cause infection.^[209]

Evidence indicates that contact with infected surfaces is not the main driver of COVID‑19,^[210]^[211]^[212] leading to recommendations for optimised disinfection procedures to avoid issues such as the increase of antimicrobial resistance through the use of inappropriate cleaning products and processes.^[213]^[214] Deep cleaning and other surface sanitation has been criticised as hygiene theatre, giving a false sense of security against something primarily spread through the air.^[215]^[216]

The amount of time the virus can survive depends significantly on the type of surface, the temperature, and the humidity.^[217] Coronaviruses die very quickly when exposed to UV light in sunlight.^[217] Like other enveloped viruses, SARS-CoV-2 survives longest when the temperature is at room or lower and relative humidity is low (<50%).^[217]

On many surfaces, including glass, some types of plastic, stainless steel, and skin, the virus can remain infective for several days indoors at room temperature or even about a week under ideal conditions.^[217]^[218] On some surfaces, including cotton fabric and copper, the virus usually dies after a few hours.^[217] The virus dies faster on porous surfaces than on non-porous surfaces due to capillary action within pores and faster aerosol droplet evaporation.^[219]^[212]^[217] However, of the many surfaces tested, the two with the longest survival times are N95 respirator masks and surgical masks, which are considered porous surfaces.^[217]

The CDC says that in most situations, cleaning surfaces with soap or detergent, not disinfecting, is enough to reduce the risk of transmission.^[220]^[221] The CDC recommends that if a COVID‑19 case is suspected or confirmed at a facility such as an office or daycare, all areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment like tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATMs used by the ill persons should be disinfected.^[222]

Surfaces may be decontaminated with 62–71 per cent ethanol, 50–100 per cent isopropanol, 0.1 per cent sodium hypochlorite, 0.5 per cent hydrogen peroxide, 0.2–7.5 per cent povidone-iodine, or 50–200 ppm hypochlorous acid.

Other solutions, benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine gluconate are less effective. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation may also be used,^[197] although popular devices require 5–10 min exposure and may deteriorate some materials over time.^[223] The supplementary material can be seen in a datasheet comprising the authorised substances for disinfection in the food industry (including suspension or surface tested, kind of surface, dilution, disinfectant and inoculum volumes).^[213]

sterilisation and sanitisation

#1 Covid-19 and the cleaning industry

[szat-1] ZHANG, SARAH (15 March 2020). “America’s Deep-Cleaning Boom”. The Atlantic Monthly Group.

[nprvk-2] Jump up to ABC Knight, Victoria (17 March 2020). “Ships, Planes And Other Spots Are Getting A ‘Deep Clean.’ What’s That Mean?”. NPR.

[nhsdc-3] Jump up to ^a ^b “COVID-19 Deep cleaning guidance in Care Homes”(PDF). www.infectionpreventioncontrol.co.uk. National Health Service.

[cdcdc-4] “COVID-19: Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Facility”. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. 5 January 2021.

[epapr-5] “Pesticide Registration – List N: Disinfectants for Coronavirus (COVID-19)”. Environmental Protection Agency. 15 December 2020.

[epagcd-6] “Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses, Schools and Homes”(PDF). 28 April 2020.

[ouaa-7] “Opening Up America Again”. Whitehouse.gov. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.

[tpera-8] WOOLFOLK, JOHN (17 April 2020). “Coronavirus: How Trump’s plan for reopening America compares with California’s”. MediaNews Group, Inc. The Press-Enterprise.

[carcov-9] “HEALTH AND SAILING UPDATE”. Carnival Corporation. 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020.

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Covid-19 Sanitation and Sterilisation

#1 Covid-19 and the cleaning industry

#1 Covid-19 and the cleaning industry

#1 Covid-19 and the cleaning industry

Deep clean (COVID-19)

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