Q. I need to increase my usage rate or dose of disinfectant or cleaner?
A. The use of specific disinfectants can be helpful in combatting COVID-19. All disinfectants and sanitizers should be used as directed on product label/instructions. This is however a great time to reinforce training and compliance to make sure surfaces and high-touch areas are being properly cleaned and employees are using infection prevention best-practices while at work.

Q. Does Ecolab have a product for use against coronavirus?
A. Yes, we offer specific disinfectants that have demonstrated effectiveness against viruses like the one causing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) when used as directed. We also offer guidance and training on proper cleaning procedures to help reduce COVID-19 risk. If you are a current customer, you should speak with your account executive for specific information. If you are not a current customer, please visit Ecolab.com to contact us via email or phone.

Q. How long will coronaviruses survive on surfaces?
A. The short answer is we don’t know yet. This is a new virus and studies are just beginning. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that transmission of COVID-19 is not that likely to occur from an infected surface. Practically, the risk will be much lower from surfaces than from a direct droplet traveling through the air from an infected person. As in any potential outbreak situation, proper infection prevention with disinfectant for surfaces and high-touch surfaces is recommended.

Q. How can hospitality employees protect themselves in their work environment?
A. Employees in a hotel or hospitality environment should follow standard infection prevention techniques – things like, washing their hands frequently, staying home when they’re sick, using approved disinfectants with an EPA emerging viral pathogen claim following the specified procedures. 

Q:  Since testing is not possible using COVID-19, how do you determine what kinds of chemical disinfectants can be used against COVID-19?
A:  For emerging or novel viruses like COVID-19, companies are unable to acquire the outbreak strain of virus to test the efficacy of their disinfectant products. Certain countries have policies or general claims that address this (e.g. US EPA Emerging Viral Pathogen Guidance*, EU viral claims) by utilizing a hierarchy of susceptibility of viruses to disinfectants. In general, these policies are based on the ability of a product to kill a ‘harder to kill’ virus and may or may not require preapproval for use in outbreak situations.  Care must be taken to use the appropriate dilution at the correct contact time for the suitable application listed on the product label to enable disinfection against SARS-CoV-2.  If you are a current customer, you should speak with your account executive for specific information. If you are not a current customer, please visit Ecolab.com to contact us via email or phone.

*In the US a product must be preapproved by US EPA. It must be a hospital disinfectant and carry approved Emerging Viral Pathogen language on the master label.

Q. What should I do about linens, bedding and other textiles?
A. There currently isn’t evidence that respiratory viruses like COVID-19 are spread through textiles, linens or bedding. Because droplets may carry disease, proper infection prevention protocol for changing and cleaning linens and bedding is recommended.

Hotel and hospital employees should always wear proper personal protective equipment when handling soiled linen. If a resident or patient is infected with COVID-19 take these steps:

• Bag the linen when cleaning the room and keep it isolated until loaded into the laundry machine. 
• Wash the linen with a standard laundry detergent at a minimum and dry according to standard linen drying guidelines. 
• Handle clean linen minimally, fold and store in a clean dry area.
• Do not handle clean linen immediately after handling soiled linen.  

Contact your Ecolab representative for information about proper protocol and disinfectant laundry products.

Q. Spa, Jacuzzi advice?
A. People who are infectious should not be using these areas. High-touchpoint surfaces should be disinfected regularly. Follow standard procedures for maintaining your pool, spa or jacuzzi facilities. There is currently, no evidence of transmission through this route.

Q. What infection prevention methods should I follow in a Commercial Healthcare Laundry facility?
A.  All linens in a Commercial Healthcare Laundry plant should be treated as if they are contaminated and universal handling precautions need to be followed.

• Avoid touching nose, mouth, eyes, face while handling contaminated linens; wash hands properly and often, use hand sanitizers. Wear all PPE to protect employees from exposure. 
• Proper separation/barriers should be in place between clean and soiled linen in the plant and throughout the transportation process.
• All hard surfaces touching soiled and clean linens should be disinfected regularly with an EPA registered hard surface disinfectant with the proper claim covering COVID-19. 
• Linens should be washed in a wash formula following CDC recommended guidelines for contaminated healthcare linens; time/temperature or time/temperature/antimicrobial intervention (laundry disinfectant)¹.
• Increase employee training on proper hand washing, proper donning and doffing of PPE.

Q. What is the CDC or WHO guidance for processing potentially contaminated linens?
A. Today, the CDC provides the following guidance for COVID-19 potentially contaminated linens:

• Management of laundry, food service utensils, and medical waste should also be performed in accordance with routine procedures. Reference CDC.gov

• Routine procedures for washing healthcare linens by the CDC and also by the WHO include thermal OR thermal/chemical guidance:
  • For thermal decontamination, wash with a detergent at 160F or greater for 25 min or more for healthcare linens.
  • For thermal/chemical decontamination, washing at temperatures lower than 160F, chose a chemical that is suitable for low-temperature washing
  • A product suitable for low-temperature washing includes a detergent and an antimicrobial intervention to compensate for a lower temperature wash. An antimicrobial intervention is AdvaCare Disinfectant, an EPA registered laundry disinfectant (EPA no. 1677-193) as per label directions for disinfection (140F for 5 min at 4 oz/CWT).
  • If temperatures of 160F for 25 min cannot be obtained for healthcare linens, then utilization of a laundry disinfectant is the best practice to compensate for  a lower temperature wash.  Ecolab’s AdvaCare Disinfectant utilized at a laundry disinfection level is a best practice recommendation.
    • Reference CDC.gov
    • Reference WHO
  • Note: no program or product can make a direct kill claim for COVID-19 in the laundering wash process.

• Routine washing of other textiles and linens includes the following:
  • Wash formulas are designed around optimization of the four main wash parameters, which include proper time, temperature, mechanical action, and chemical action.  In addition, the laundering process relies on many other mechanisms for soil removal which includes dilution, temperatures to increase solubility of soils and permeability of the textiles, chemistries which work together to  saponify oils and greases, denature proteins, and remove organic materials.  All of the mentioned processes aid in soil and contaminant removal on textiles, resulting in a clean textile.
  • A best practice recommendation  to setting up an optimized wash process is using an antimicrobial in the wash process, AdvaCare Disinfectant, an EPA registered laundry disinfectant (EPA No. 1677-193), at either a laundry sanitization rate or a laundry disinfection rate. The label directions must be followed to meet laundry sanitization or laundry disinfection claims. The EPA label also outlines the microorganism kill claims. Consult with your Ecolab representative for additional details on the use of this product.