In the wake of the growing coronavirus pandemic, governments around the world are advocating regular cleaning and hygiene to prevent the spread of the virus. The COVID-19 virus is known to spread from person-to-person, either through direct contact with infected individuals or through coming into contact with respiratory droplets.
Health organizations like the Centre for Disease Control and the World Health Organization have advocated social distancing as well as regular hygiene such as cleaning regularly touched surfaces. While this can be achieved in a house or office space, it is much harder to practice in a car. This guide will help you take the required precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
If you will be using your car regularly for the next few weeks, you may want to consider cleaning the interior of your car thoroughly. Our handy guide on how to clean your car’s interior will guide your through the process to ensure you have a clean base to prepare your car for proper sanitization.
Also Read: How to Clean the Interior of Your Car
This first deep interior cleaning will clean out your interiors completely. This has two positive effects. The cleansing will clean off a lot of residue and junk that has built up in your car and will refresh your car’s interiors. The deep cleaning will also remove any virus residues that may be lurking on the surfaces in your car’s interior.
Once you have thoroughly cleaned the interior of your car, the next step is to sanitize the car to make it safe for you and your passengers. The confined space of the car makes it easy for a virus like the coronavirus to spread among the occupants if proper care is not taken. The coronavirus is known to remain active on hard surfaces for at least 2-3 days on plastic and steel surfaces.
The CDC’s recommendation for cleaning and disinfecting households can be applied to the car as well. When disinfecting surfaces, use a surface disinfectant with isopropyl alcohol to ensure that any viruses are removed properly.
Here’s a list of all the high touch surfaces that should be disinfected with the highest priority:
While you can keep your car disinfected and sanitized, there are some precautions you can take to keep the occupants of the car safe. Create a kit specially for your car that should include the following things:
This kit will provide the tools to take effective precautions for the coronavirus at your destination and in your car.
However, the best precaution to prevent the spread of coronavirus is to remain at home and limit driving to crowded places as much as possible. Use your car sparingly to travel only when necessary and reduce your (and your car’s) exposure to the coronavirus.
