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(https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/nhs-working-hard-prevent-second-coronavirus-wave-a4467951.html)


Making a clean breast of healthcare hygiene


James Taylor, Marketing Director Specialties EMEIA at Berry Global, considers the optimum hygiene practices, infection prevention strategies and innovative cleaning solutions aiding the healthcare sector in its ongoing Coronavirus battle.


Only a matter of months ago, the novel coronavirus disease was largely unheard of. Today, the highly contagious virus has spread to nearly every corner of the globe and has had a profound and lasting impact on many aspects of life as we know it. Nowhere is this clearer than the pandemic’s impression on hygiene practices, with modern cleaning remaining under greater scrutiny than ever previously.


While cleanliness in most environments has assumed even greater importance – especially with an emphasis on returning to work safely in myriad industries – for a ‘high risk’ healthcare sector already battling a large swathe of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the significance is further pronounced. Especially as top medical professionals remain fearful of a potential second wave of COVID-19 this winter.


Cross-contamination prevention


Healthcare cleaning professionals are already accustomed to extensive and thorough cleaning, but with the COVID era, lowering the risk of cross-contamination through the close and careful sanitation of touchpoints, common surfaces, floors and fittings in particular, is now even more imperative to meeting infection prevention targets.


With high traffic touchpoints in the workplace having the greatest concentration of microbes, therefore, acting as vectors for the spread of the virus, the failure to achieve high standards of cleanliness in such areas in critical care settings carries its own set of risks.


Of course, while keeping surfaces clean to remove pathogens of concern is a crucial step in breaking any potential chain of infection, achieving it across increasingly complex healthcare estates is certainly not straightforward.


COVID cleaning considerations


Unfortunately, when it comes to infection control, not all cleaning solutions are created equal, meaning healthcare teams run the very real risk of exposing potentially deadly inadequacies in their cleaning practices by selecting the wrong products. A prime example of this is in the choice of traditional woven cloths.


Although such solutions have long proven popular with cleaning professionals across a range of industries, including healthcare, extensive testing has revealed that some 30% of the germs they pick up whilst cleaning are subsequently deposited onto the next surface wiped (Berry Global/University College London Hospitals report, 2019).


As a result, many teams have transitioned to reusable, 100% microfibre cloths, a natural progression from woven cloth


40 | PAPER & DISPOSABLES


equivalents owing to their superior cleaning performance and greater microbial removal proficiencies. What many professionals fail to realise is that analysis has indicated some 93% of microfibre cloths used to clean hospital rooms still contained dangerous levels of bacteria such as E. Coli even after being laundered, according to a study by the American Journal of Infection Control.


Infection control regimes


In an age where infection control has assumed the primacy in efficient hygiene management processes, one solution that’s adding significant value is working with disposable microfibre wipes and cloths – such as those produced by Chicopee, a Berry Global brand and the leading producer of professional cleaning materials.


The limited time usage of microfibre-based solutions – such as Chicopee’s Microfibre Light – feature a unique structure that facilitates the removal of 99.99% of bacteria, securely trapping it in the material without the use of chemicals, and significantly reducing the risk of cross- contamination. While, by virtue of being completely disposable after use, safeguarding against bacteria being released onto the next surface cleaned.


When it comes to superior cleaning efficacy and lower pathogen transmission, disposable 100% microfibre wipes and cloths also provide significant benefits. Indeed, exhaustive testing conducted under simulated cleaning conditions, against numerous bacteria at University College London, recently discovered that the number of median log10 MRSA and K. pneumoniae incorporating a soil suspension on single-use solutions were consistently lower than re- useable (laundered) microfibre cloth comparatives.


Similarly, while disposable cloth and mops displayed no relevant microbial contamination following extensive investigations, spore-forming bacteria were recovered from both pristine and laundered microfibre cloths and mop heads used for cleaning hospital rooms after washing.


Wiping the floor with pathogens


Of course, the extensive collection of large communal areas in today’s healthcare environments – be that


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