How to Safely Clean Cell phone From Virus?

There are routines to avoid COVID-19 for example social distancing and washing your hands for at least 20 seconds. You should also avoid habits like touching your face with your hands. As you know by now there is no drug invented for curing this disease and the only way is to protect yourself by prevention. It is a common question is it necessary to disinfect your phone and how often and how?

Is it necessary to disinfect your cell phone?

If you wash your hands before touching your devices, that would be enough to keep your devices clean. But an average person touches his or her phone 2617 times a day. So it is not practical to wash your hands before each time touching your phone. Sometimes you put your phone in a public place or use it in front of a person coughing or sneezing, so you should assume that your phone has some infected droplets on it and touching it could lead to transferring the coronavirus. So you should clean your phone through the day and particularly after putting it in a public place or exposing it to someone coughing or sneezing.

How often you should clean your phone?

It your phone is at home and no one infected with coronavirus is present at your home then it would be enough to clean your phone two times a day. But if there is any probability that your phone may have any coronavirus on it then you should clean it properly.

How to clean your cell phone properly?

You should consult your mobile manufacturer for the proper way of cleaning your phone. Many mobile manufacturer like Apple and Samsung has published guides on their websites explaining the proper way of cleaning their phones. For example Apple has provided these recommendations to clean iPhone:

·         You should only use a soft and lint-free cloth

·         You shouldn't wipe phone excessively

·         Before beginning wiping your phone you should unplug any power supply or any other connection

·         Avoid allowing moisture to infiltrate through any openings

·         Don't use aerosol sprays, bleaches and abrasives

·         Don't spray directly onto the phone

·         It is recommended to use 70 percent isopropyl alcohol or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes

Samsung has also provided guidelines to clean your Samsung smartphone. Samsung also warns against applying liquid cleaning directly onto the screen because it may harm the coating which protects the display from fingerprint smudges. Some devices has not any IP rating i.e. they are not water or dust resistant. You should pay more attention while cleaning these devices to prevent any liquid getting through thin openings of the phone.  Samsung suggests using hypochlorous acid-basedu (50-80 ppm) or alcohol-based (70% or more) to disinfect your phone.

Samsung also offers a free Galaxy Sanitizing Service available in its official service centers and stores in dozens of countries all over the world. They use special machines to disinfect phones with UV-C light.

Summary:

It is necessary to disinfect your phone two times daily and each time it is exposed to a probable source of coronavirus. You can use 70% or more alcohol or 50-80 ppm hypochlorous acid. Don’t apply the liquid directly to the screen use a soft lint-free cloth and wipe the surface gently.