We have been more than a year with this virus that undoubtedly has affected everyone equally, and due to this global pandemic people demand and demand environments in which they feel and are safe, it is for this reason that recently the WHO (World Health Organization) has published a document in which warns that it is necessary to a large extent to perform thorough cleaning and disinfection to combat the permanence of COVID 19 on surfaces.
This is why many households and companies are worrying about fumigating surfaces and objects in both indoor and outdoor spaces, however, they are making a serious mistake, since according to the WHO it is considered useless and even dangerous when it comes to combating COVID 19.
These fumigation techniques consist of applying a disinfectant sprayed by air, and are largely harmful to health, as they can cause irritation to the skin and eyes or inhalation of toxic agents, besides being dangerous it is ineffective because the presence of organic matter or dirt in the environment deactivates the disinfectants, which is why it is vital to clean before disinfecting (concepts that we will see later).
For all these reasons, we will now give you the most essential reasons why it is of great importance to carry out a thorough manual cleaning and disinfection to combat this disease and eliminate it from our places of interest.
First of all, we must take into account the difference between cleaning and disinfecting, cleaning in this case is done with water and detergent on the surface to be cleaned, this helps us to remove the remains of dirt and organic matter and also helps to greatly reduce the load of pathogenic microorganisms on surfaces. Bearing this in mind, we can point out that SARS-COV-2 is enveloped by a fragile lipid layer that can be weakened during the cleaning process, so that the disinfectants can completely eliminate the virus.
On the other hand, disinfection is the process of applying a disinfectant to a surface in order to eliminate viruses, bacteria, fungi and other pathogenic microorganisms.
Taking into account the above, WHO warns that COVID easily contaminates the material and chemicals used for cleaning, which is why the usual cleaning and disinfection procedures cannot be followed, it is recommended to replace the cloths with which the cleaning and disinfection solutions are applied in each area, and to sanitize the cleaning material more frequently.
Regarding detergents and disinfectants, assuming that they can be contaminated during use, a daily solution is prepared and discarded at the end of the cleaning day.
We have already seen that it is of great importance to clean first and then disinfect spaces, otherwise it would be a useless process that would serve no purpose, and that these processes are vital to combat this pandemic that never seems to end.