If someone in your home falls ill, there's always a chance that other members of the household will be affected. This is why it's important for anyone who has a flu to stay in a separate room if possible. Additionally, cleaning and disinfecting the sick person's bedroom is just as crucial to avoid spreading the illness, as viruses can live on surfaces for hours—or even days.
To guide you, here's a list of things in the bedroom that needs to be disinfected:
1. Sheets and pillowcases
Beddings need the most attention as it's in close contact with the body. Change the sheets and pillowcases once the sick member has recovered. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises the public to avoid shaking dirty sheets—you'll only disperse virus and bacteria through air. Clean your hands with soap and water immediately after touching the dirty laundry. Finally, when washing the beddings, it's best to use the warmest appropriate water setting!
A word of advice from the World Health Organization (WHO): "Don't carry dirty linen or clothes against your body" to keep any illness from spreading. Grab a laundry basket!
2. Doorknobs
Doorknobs are a high-touch surface that rarely gets cleaned. CDC advises to clean doorknobs with soap and water. Then, spray the surface with a household disinfectant; this could either be a bleach solution (containing 1/3rd cup bleach per gallon of water) or 70% isopropyl alcohol. Do this at least once a day while someone is sick.
3. Bedside table
Don't forget the tables! According to Web MD, these surfaces "tend to host cold and flu viruses, because they're touched often and aren't wiped down enough." Like doorknobs, tables must be cleaned with soap and water and disinfected with a bleach solution or alcohol.
4. Phones and tablets; remote control
Phone or tablet screens are dirtier than you realize, and they must be regularly cleaned, whether someone's sick or not. Additionally, another handheld item that you probably haven't cleaned in a long time is your remote control. Do you know that it's almost as dirty as a toilet? To clean these high-touched items, simply wipe it down using an alcohol-based wipe or sprays containing 70% ispropyl alcohol.
