With the Wuhan coronavirus situation in Singapore, most people would stay home.
After all, besides the risk of getting infected with the virus, there’s also a high chance of you bringing the virus back home.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the luxury of working from home.
For people like you and me, how else can we minimise the risk of bringing the coronavirus home?
Here are 7 useful tips that can keep the Wuhan coronavirus out of your home.
1. Set Up An External Area for Shoes
Our shoes bring us to different places daily, from your office’s carpet floor which has not been washed in decades to the super dirty coffee shop toilet.
And when you step into your home with your shoes on? You’re bringing them into your home.
Even without the Wuhan coronavirus, people are advised not to wear their shoes into their homes.
If your shoes are too valuable to be left out of the home, demarcate your entryway and emphasise that no one steps on it with their barefoot.
And, of course, mop the area with detergent regularly.
2. Wipe Down Your Phone
Your shoes aren’t the only ones to come into contact with plenty of germs and bacteria. Your phone is pretty dirty too.
Studies have shown that on average, your mobile phone could be dirtier than the average toilet bowl.
After all, we are constantly holding our phones, after opening doors, pressing the lift buttons or holding on to handrails.
Plus, the oil on our palms helps bacteria thrive.
So wipe down your phone and try not to lend it to anyone else. In fact, wiping down your keyboard and other devices you often use might be a good idea.
3. Shower As Soon As You Reach Home
Besides your phones and shoes, your clothes and bags are exposed to bacteria outside too.
Some might not have the habit of showering the moment they reach home, choosing to lounge around instead.
By doing that, you’re also giving bacteria a chance to stick to areas in your home.
Instead, put your clothes into the laundry basket and store your bag properly and head in for a nice, long bath.
4. Wash Your Hands Frequently
We all know the importance of washing our hands with soap. Most of the times, we do it when we’re out of the house but at home? We might just neglect it.
You can even go online and search for a proper handwashing technique and put it above your sink.
This can remind you to wash your hands properly every single time.
5. Heat Treatments
Your living sofa is probably the area where you lounge at right after reaching home.
Only after your shower would you go into your room and laze on your bed.
Which means the sofa will be full of bacteria brought in from outside.
Heat has been shown to be able to kill bacteria so make sure to steam clean fabrics to rid them of bacteria.
For hand towels that are used by many people within the home, do a hot water wash (60 degrees and above) once a week.
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6. Clean Up More Often
In Singapore today, both the husband and wife typically work full-time. Often, when it’s time to clean up, they’ll simply use the vacuum to suck up the dirt, opting to leave intensive cleaning to the next weekend (or longer).
For this period, it might not be enough. Make sure to map and clean the doorknobs as well.
NEA recently released an interim list of products which works well against the Wuhan coronavirus:
You can read more about it here.
7. Use An Air Purifier
Normal purifiers can remove dust mites and pollens which cause people to cough. Lesser coughs or sneezes equals one lesser way for the Wuhan coronavirus to transmit.
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But if you happen to have the Hepa (high-efficiency particulate air) filter, it can trap particles as small as 3 microns, which includes some bacteria.