Wipe down your work station.
Before you start your shift, use an EPA-approved product to disinfect your desk, keyboard, computer mouse, work phone and any other objects or surfaces that you or your coworkers touch a lot.
But make sure you’re disinfecting the right way. To work, the surface you disinfect must remain wet for a long period of time — usually between 3 to 5 minutes — and that’ll require a lot of wipes.
Wash your hands. A lot.
Get ready to make lots of trips to the nearest sink. You should wash your hands after you eat, touch door handles or blow your nose, among many, many other actions. Whenever you can wash your hands, you should — just make sure you’re washing your hands correctly. Here’s the proper way to do it.
Sanitize when soap isn’t available.
If you can’t leave a meeting to scrub your hands with soap, hand sanitizers are a fine substitute. But it’s always best to wash with soap and water after a few pumps of sanitizer — gels won’t clean your hands like washing them will.
Save the handshakes.
The novel coronavirus is transmitted primarily between people, so avoid unnecessary physical contact. Refusing a handshake isn’t ill-mannered anymore — it’s recommended. Flash a friendly wave, peace sign or thumbs-up instead.
Clean your smartphone.
What was all that hand washing and disinfecting worth if your phone is dirty? You’re safe using a damp, soapy microfiber cloth to clean the screens and backs of iPhones and Androids (though Apple said this week that disinfectant wipes are OK to use on iPhones, too). Just avoid getting water in any of the ports.
There you have it. A little scrubbing goes a long way. But if you want to kill the most germs, note the difference between disinfecting and cleaning: Cleaning only removes viruses and bacteria from surfaces, but disinfecting wipes them out.
