I think we need an edict from above to reduce mandatory surface cleankng

[MaloInAnAppleTree]

I’m not against things being clean, and I’m certainly all in favour of regular hand washing.

But the level of cleaning and fogging and the move back to disposables rather than reusables in some spaces in the interests of “Covid secure” status is definitely over the top, given what we now know about transmission of this virus.

General cleaning is a good thing, especially in healthcare settings where bacterial diseases can be disastrous, but its benefits needs to be weighed against the downsides in terms of time, skin damage, environmental cost (both in use of cleaning products and of switching to disposable products) and financial costs to services and businesses already struggling as the result of actually effective social distancing.

Obviously a lot of entities have moved with the science - most charity shops aren’t quarantining donations for 72 hours any more for example, but some really haven’t.

I reckon that every entity that hands down best practice guidelines should have to review them and update cleaning advice to a more realistic appraisal of the situation.

Obviously some businesses are going way too ott - particularly charity shops practically fogging incoming customers and barking instructions, but I am more than pleased at the extra precautions in hospitals etc. Even if covid had never happened, there is norovirus etc, and I have always pressed buttons with my sleeve and avoided hand rails (watch me balancing on steep tube escalator!).

I think if some businesses want to relax on the cleaning, then that’s up to them, but actually issuing an edict about not cleaning would not be a good idea in many cases.

Hospitals definitely need all the cleaning they can get. And some places are already striking a perfectly reasonable balance. But anywhere that implemented a plan in April 2020 and hasn’t updated it since needs to review it.

I think the reduction in noro and other GI nasties has been very welcome. I've never witnessed the sort of OTT barking (which I would agree is too much) but as a general thing I think it's been very positive

I agree OP. The WHO have categorically stated that the virus is airborne, so the endless wiping down of surfaces is a bit much, and it would be far more effective to focus on ventilation and opening all windows. Obviously I'm all in favour of clean surfaces and hand hygiene, but the focus needs to be mainly on ventilation I think.

Where I work (neglected public buildings) Covid has meant tgat we have had adequate cleaning for the first time in literally decades. We aren’t fogging etc though, just have actual cleaners on-site that actually clean several times a day rather than a once over with a dirty cloth for half an hour and a Hoover once a month.

I think we need to keep up good levels of surface hygiene but I agree quarantining documents etc is pointless and in fact we dropped that a while ago

The UK government is on the case - an official announcement on the subject is expected in the Spring of 2023

I dont think quarantining and cleaning is completely pointless if it reduced other cough/temp viruses. So reducing SI and testing.
There has definitely been a reduction in d&v which maybe suggests it was on kids hands?
We still managed to catch 2 of 3 viruses from our kids and obviously they got all 3 from school this year.

@strangeshapedpotato

The UK government is on the case - an official announcement on the subject is expected in the Spring of 2023

What makes you think they would prioritise it that highly?