Here is how you can clean and disinfect your phone. (Image: Pixabay/Engin_Akyurt)
As per a new study, scheduled for publication in Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, mobile phones could be acting as “Trojan horses” for COVID-19. The research is a review of 56 previous studies from 24 countries and it found that 68 per cent of the phones sampled in these studies were contaminated.
These studies predate the coronavirus pandemic and found a cocktail of live germs including Golden staph and E. Coli microbes on phones. However, the authors of the review believe that SARS-Cov-2 is probably present on mobiles and other touch-screen devices of coronavirus sufferers.
Also read | How to clean AC on your own at home
“Our recommendation is that phones should be decontaminated daily and regularly with either 70% isopropyl or by sanitising with (ultraviolet) devices like PhoneSoap,” said the study. Here is how you can disinfect your phone.
How to clean and disinfect your phone
A step-by-step guide to clean your phone. (Image: Pixabay/Myriams_Fotos)
Cleaning your phone or tablet could be a tricky matter and you need to be extra careful while cleaning the screen. Follow these steps to clean and disinfect your iPhone, iPad, Android smartphone, or tablet:
*Make sure your device is unplugged
*First clean your phone with a soft slightly damp lint-free microfibre cloth
*You can also dampen the corner of the cloth to wipe the screen and use the dry corner to remove excess moisture left on the phone/tablet
*Now use a disinfecting wipe to make it germs free after you are done cleaning
*In case you don’t have disinfecting wipes, you can use rubbing alcohol
*Prepare a solution with 70 per cent isopropyl and spray it on to a microfibre cloth. Now gently wipe your smartphone before the solution dries out
After you are done cleaning your phone, there is another way to disinfect your device. You can invest in a UV light sanitizer to kill off the germs present on your phone. Also, while you are at it, do not forget to clean and disinfect your phone’s case.
Notably, different types of cases need a different type of cleaning.Plastic/silicone cases could be cleaned by soaking in a soapy water solution and rinsing off with water. For leather cases, damp the microfibre cloth with soapy water solution and wipe it clean. Wood cases need to be cleaned using water and vinegar solution followed by rinsing off with water.