Some Kaduna-based health practitioner s on Tuesday advised the public to regularly disinfect their phones with alcohol-based hand sanitiser to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna, the practitioners emphasised that good hygiene was essential in curtailing the spread of coronavirus as it was very easy to transfer it to one’s clean hands by touching objects.
Mr Amos Ezekiel a pathologist at Barau Teaching Hospital, Kaduna, said that as COVID-19 continued to spread around the world, leading hygiene experts had advised on tried and tested methods to prevent further spread.
Ezekiel, however expressed worries that many people had forgotten that coronavirus could live on surface of phones.
According to him, there are three common strands of advice for minimising the spread of the deadly coronavirus issued by world heath bodies such as the NHS and WHO.
“If you have to sneeze, do it into a tissue or your sleeve, avoid contact with sick people, and wash your hands with soap often,’’ he stated.
He however said that people could constantly sanitise their hands, but bacteria and viruses such as COVID-19 living on the surface of a phone could immediately be transferred back to such hands.
“Good hygiene and disinfecting regularly touched items like door handles, surfaces and telephones are essential.
“It is very easy to transfer the virus onto your clean hands by touching something that someone with the virus had come in contact with, or beeing in the vicinity.
“In the time of fear of coronavirus, phones should also be disinfected with alcohol-based sanitiser.
“Pour few drops of sanitiser on a tiny clean cotton pad and rub it safely on your entire phone,” he said.
Ezekiel said that people should always exhibit caution when cleaning phones with alcohol-based solution as some phones had cheap plastic screen protectors which could be destroyed.
He further advised the public to maintain basic cleanliness and try to avoid using other people’s phones, especially those suffering from respiratory illness or those having flu-like symptoms.
Also, Dr Esther Isaac, a cardiologist with Medieval Hospital, Kaduna, said the public should not only wash hands with soap and water, but also clean their phones in order to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
Isaac said the same substances used to clean hands could be used to clean phones to prevent the spread of COVID-19, cautioning however that some substances were more suitable than others in doing so.
She advised that in cleaning phones, moisten lint-free cloth often used to clean reading glasses should be used with soap and water to give a phone and its case a thorough wipe down.
“When soap interacts with viruses the fat-like substances in the soap compete with the viral lipids and cause the virus to break down.
“However, the advantage of soap is that when combined with water it can cover large surface area,” she said.
She however noted that some smartphone makers had cautioned against cleaning phones with solutions containing bleach or abrasives as well as use of rough cloth.
“Some higher-end phone models have their own oleophobic coatings; so one has to be careful in the cleaning,” she said.
According to her, wipes and gels with a very high concentration of alcohol can damage the oleophobic layer used to avoid obvious oily fingerprint smudges on someone phone’s touchscreen.
She said that alcohol gels were different because they contained a high concentration of alcohol and ethanol capable of killing viruses.
Isaac said it was always better to use soap and water, adding that where possible then alcohol gel with a good technique would also work.
Dr Anna Thomas said one could clean one’s phone when washing hands and the best method to disinfect phone was to use regular doctor spirit or the alcohol-based hand sanitiser at least every 90 minutes.
According to her, tests done by scientists show that the virus can live for two to three days on plastic and stainless steel.
She, however, recommended cleaning all “high-touch” surfaces, including phones, keyboards and tablet computers daily.
Thomas, a pathologist with Oxford Hospital, Kaduna, also warned that cleaning of phones improperly could damage them.
“Do not spray cleaners directly on it; do not spray it with compressed-air devices used to clean keyboards and avoid rubbing it with abrasive materials.
“When you want to clean your phone, start by turning off the phone and unplugging all cables as the phone should not be charging as you clean.
“Avoid touching your eyes, mouth or nose. The best option is to use a phone cover or a Bluetooth device and try to touch your phone as less as possible,’’ she said.
