How to sanitize your mobile phone and phone charging stations during the COVID-19 outbreak

 

Phones Sanitizing from coronavirus: How to clean your mobile phone safely during coronavirus

 

How to sanitize your mobile phone during the COVID-19 outbreak

• Why it is important to clean your phone and phone touch screen During the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Your mobile phone can be cleaned using disinfecting wipes frequently.

·        Could any substances damage your mobile phone while trying to sanitize your phone from coronavirus

·       How to sanitize mobile phonecharging stations during the COVID-19 pandemic

     

Fig 1 Chargezone mobile phone charging station

 

The prevention action for the recent outbreak of COVID-19, are currently handwashing, using disinfectant wipes, using hand sanitizer, staying home when we are sick, avoid touching your face, regularly clean your mobile phones and sanitize mobilephone charging stations before or after using.

Furthermore, we normally neglect and often overlook sanitizing our phones especially the touch screens and phone cases. All phone charging station comes with free hand sanitizer

Also due to frequent use of mobile phones in our everyday lives, our phones could be major carriers of microbial life forms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi which could be harmless.

However, some disease-causing organisms can survive on surfaces long enough to be transmitted to another person. An example of this disease is the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Fig2. Mobile phone charging locker

Why you may need to clean your mobile phone and phone charging stations to avoid disease causing organisms?

Due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19 we have been told to wash our hands already, so how important is it to regularly clean your mobile phone?

Research has shown that if we regularly wash our hands or sanitize them before touching their devices, that would be enough to prevent us from transferring the virus via touch.

Furthermore, as often as we touch our faces or mobile phone experts have recommended washing our hands before every new contact with the mobile phone.

Experts have now recommended wiping down the mobile phone or sanitizing especially the touchscreens and phone cases and it should be a part of our routine.

Experts Recommendation on how to clean your phone

The manufacturers website should be the specific place to get instructions to avoid damaging your mobile phone. While the case could simplicity be taking of the phone then sanitised.

All mobile phone manufacturers have provided recommendations due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year.

The standard specific instructions we advise is as follows:

·         Use only a soft, lint-free cloth. Avoid abrasive cloths, towels, paper towels, or similar items. 

·         Avoid excessive wiping, which might cause damage. 

·         Unplug all external power sources, devices, and cables.

·         Keep liquids away from the product, unless otherwise noted for specific products.

·         Don't get moisture into any openings.

·         Don't use aerosol sprays, bleaches, or abrasives.

·         Don't spray cleaners directly onto the item.

Apple has said we should use 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipes or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes to wipe down any hard, nonporous surfaces but said they should avoid using them on leather or fabric to prevent damage.

Other virus experts suggested that keeping your phone in a sealed case will make it easier to wipe it down with disinfectant wipes.

Experts recommend on how often you should clean your phone and clean phone charging stations?

Currently the most likely way that our mobile phone would become contaminated with the virus is to be kept on a contaminated surface, for someone to sneeze or cough.

Furthermore, microscopic droplets containing the virus could then settle on the mobile phone or surface contained with the virus.

When around a public place or any surface which maybe contained with the virus, furthermore if you have been near anyone who is coughing or sneezing, it would be a good idea to clean and sanitize your mobile phone.

In addition, regularly sanitize and clean your phone often based on your habits to avoid contamination.

The WHO and experts being very diligent about washing your hands to protect you from the virus, Furthermore, you would need to clean the screen less often, maybe once or twice a day.

Also, if you are in a public environment or putting your phone down on a potentially contaminated surface, washing your hands infrequently.

Experts and researchers stress that unless you are in a home with someone who has SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, it’s relatively unlikely that our mobile phone has any virus on it.

Finally, unless the mobile phone has potentially been exposed to the virus, experts do not think there’s any reason to clean our phone more than once a day.

Also, experts would recommend using phone charging lockers  which comes with free hand sanitizer and the phonecharging lockers  are regularly cleaned daily.