Ever since the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) released their recommendations to help slow the spread of COVID-19, many of us have been integrating these changes into our daily lives. Wearing a mask while in public, or around high-risk and vulnerable people, social distancing, and 20-second hand washing has become increasingly normal. While these are essential to helping everyone stay safe and healthy during this pandemic, it’s not always enough. When returning to work or sending children back to school, more precautions are required. This is especially true when thinking about sending young children back to school. Younger children are more likely to touch their face, and other surfaces, than adults, which makes it easy for schools to become super spreaders. To make sure that you’re doing everything you can to minimize risk, here are 5 simple ways to keep your school cleaner and healthier during a pandemic.
1. Encourage Good Hygiene Behaviors
To make sure that each of your students and faculty members are staying healthy and reducing transmission, it’s important to encourage good hygiene behaviors. This includes making sure that everyone knows the hand washing protocol and how to properly wear their masks when needed. To solidify these behaviors, post signs in the hallways and nearby any sinks. Make them visual and easy to understand for younger children and verbally reinforce reminders. For increased access to cleanliness, install hand sanitizing stations around the school and make it routine for everyone to use them after touching any doorknobs or other high-traffic areas. Bee Line is able to provide disinfectant wipes for every classroom and faculty room to utilize throughout the day.
2. Deep Clean Before Returning and Regularly Scheduled Disinfecting
Before opening, make sure that you book a full deep cleaning of your school. This goes above and beyond traditional cleaning services. Instead of being a means to an end, the deep cleaning allows for your faculty to be properly prepared for efficient disinfection. It’s the best way to make sure that you’re starting off with a clean slate.
Once students and faculty have returned to the classroom, make sure that you continue to schedule weekend disinfecting for the best preventative measures. At Bee Line, we offer comprehensive misting every weekend that includes both pre-wiping and disinfectant misting across all surfaces throughout your school. This includes the treatment of soft surfaces. Through these ongoing efforts, you’ll slow the spread and reduce the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks. If our professionals notice that your faculty is presenting above average amounts of pathogens, we may recommend misting daily.
3. Clean and Sanitize Throughout the Day and After School
Even if you have misting performed every day, you’ll still want to make sure that the high-touch points throughout your school are safe while students are in session. We recommend scheduling one of Bee Line’s High-Touch Point Day Porters to sanitize frequently touched surfaces throughout the day. Our services are roughly four to five hours, beginning at the start of the school day. Our High-Touch Point Day Porters will target all trafficked areas, including common areas, bathrooms, faculty break rooms, and classrooms.
If you’re not utilizing misting services daily, we recommend end of school cleaning. Bee Line’s cleaners utilize CDC approved disinfectants to make sure that your school is thoroughly sanitized after hours.
4. Get Regular Feedback and Updates
In an effort to ensure that your disinfecting is going as planned, it’s important to get regular feedback and updates. Bee Line is one of the few comprehensive cleaning companies to use Black Light Auditing to track and report disinfection efficiency. To do this, we apply an invisible spray prior to cleaning and then our crew proceeds as normal. After they’ve completed the area, our auditors come back and record any results through an electronic dashboard. This allows you to see the ongoing efficiency of Bee Line’s cleaning professionals. We also supply quarterly client updates to make sure that you have the data to support your ongoing safe operations. We’ll provide you with a report that can be shared with faculty, staff, and parents for stronger peace of mind.
5. Don’t Forget Transportation Cleaning
If public transportation options are running for your school, it’s important to include routine cleaning and disinfecting across every vehicle. Bee Line can partner with your transportation company to ensure all of the CDC Considerations for Schools Operating During COVID-19 are met and to avoid any service interruptions.
In addition to utilizing more intensive cleaning and sanitizing procedures, teaching children healthy habits and behaviors is a great way to supplement classroom learning. Consider making some time throughout the day for children to engage in activities that can help boost their immune systems. Some great ways to do this are to prioritize exercise during the day, allow free time instead of stringent scheduling, engage in daily meditation activities that are adapted for children, play soothing music during appropriate times such as in arts and crafts or even reading periods, and practice deep breathing exercises as a class.
By implementing simple, yet effective ways to keep your school healthier during a pandemic, you’ll avoid unnecessary risks and outbreaks. While it’s nearly impossible to completely eradicate the risk of exposure during the current COVID-19 outbreak, regular sanitization measures coupled with healthy habits, social distancing, and the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) are your best line of defense. To make sure that you’re going above and beyond, Bee Line offers a 10-step protocol for your faculty and student’s safe return to school. All of our processes are in accordance with the CDC guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting public spaces and we only use products that have been approved by the EPA for use against the virus that causes COVID-19. While our Black Light auditing can help track and report disinfection efficiency, there is currently no technique that’s been proven to test for the complete eradication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is why ongoing practices are the safest course of action.
If you do receive a confirmed positive COVID-19 test at your school, it’s important that you take action immediately. Bee Line’s action plan includes closing off the classrooms or infected areas for at least 48 hours with proper ventilation followed by medical-grade disinfection by our professional cleaners in full PPE. After all contaminated areas have been pre-wiped and misted with our surgical-grade misting technology, we’ll notify the school administration that it’s safe to commence re-entry. For those who need on-site testing, Bee Line has partnered with a professional medical institution that can provide comprehensive Rapid Testing. The testing takes less than a minute per person and results are received in 15 minutes. This is a great way to make sure that your entire student body and faculty are safe and free of COVID-19. With regular testing, you’re better prepared to catch new cases before they lead to an outbreak. To learn more about our COVID-19 Rapid Test for students and faculty, call Bee Line today.
Bee Line is one of the only certified and medical-grade cleaning companies in the region. Our specially trained teams and surgical-grade misting technology works to disinfect every square inch of your school harmlessly and efficiently. This is essential in keeping your faculty members and students safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. To stay up to date with Bee Line’s latest cleaning tips, advice and COVID updates, sign up for our newsletter. If you need to schedule a service call Bee Line at 312-BEE-LINE or message us today to get started.
About The Author
Jesse Parra
author
It’s hard to find a more reliable manager than Jesse. When it comes to your needs, concerns, and questions, you can count on Jesse to help you out. Jesse is a native to Chicago and is a proud pet parent to his chihuahua named Peter. In his spare time, you can find Jesse practicing his photography skills, cheering on the Cubbies, and seeking out the best taco joints in town! His favorite aspect of working with Bee Line is the incredible teamwork, his friendly coworkers, and the many opportunities for growth.