Handling cleaning during infectious disease outbreaks is best managed by taking the time to set up processes and procedures, update training, and re-evaluate chemical selection and equipment.
Best practice for dealing with infectious outbreaks of any kind is to clean first, then sanitize and disinfect. Microbiologists agree that if we clean and remove up to 90% of soils and pathogens on any surface, cleaning can then kill the remaining 10%. This is significant because it can be achieved with an effective less-toxic sanitizer or disinfectant, reducing harm to the environment.
For cleaning, the minimum requirement for facilities is third-party certified products with no sanitizers and disinfectant in them to clean glass, windows, stainless, hard surfaces, and floors.
For sanitizing and disinfecting, the less-toxic disinfectant on the commercial cleaning market is hypochlorous acid, also know as HOCl.
You can also use other disinfectants such as hydrogen peroxides and the old standbys — but much more toxic — options of quaternary ammonium compounds and/or chlorine bleach.
The only one that should be used with electrostatics is hypochlorous acid due to its low toxicity and neutral pH. Any other disinfectant should be applied by hand which is time-consuming and allows for higher risk of exposure to the workers and can pollute indoor air quality.
Take these simple steps to get ahead of infectious outbreaks like COVID-19, flu, colds, and Norovirus: