More than half U.S. households use smartphones, not landlines according to Pew Research Center. A third of Americans live in homes with three or more smartphones. A Covid-19 virus can remain active for three days on plastic or steel. This makes smartphones highly effective carriers for mouth-to-mouth infections. Did you know you could clean your smartphone with soap and water?
It’s Easy to Clean Your Smartphone with Soap and Water
In fact, it could be better for the smartphone too, because disinfectants and alcohol hand rubs could damage the screen. Whereas water should be perfectly safe, provided it does not seep down through an opening and damage the internals.
So what you do is moisten a micro-fiber cloth with soapy water, wring it out, and gently rub your phone with it all over. However you should work around the openings, not over them. You need to do this for a while, just as when you wash your hands. And make sure you clean the whole surface thoroughly as you clean your smartphone with soap and water.
You Should Do This Every Time You Use a Phone
It makes sense to break the habit of the nearest person grabbing the phone when it rings and answering. It seems we need a more measured approach of terminating the connection, washing the phone carefully, and then calling back. It follows we should also clean our smartphone with soap and water first, before starting a new call ourselves.
Perhaps it’s best to have a one-phone one-person policy on reflection. Panicking about the virus doesn’t add value. Taking care and following sensible precautions does. The overwhelming proportion of us will come through this fairly easily. And if we are laid low for a while, then we can take comfort from knowing our immune systems are building our defenses.
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Preview Image: There is More to Smartphones
