Patient transport service helping to prevent coronavirus
Should we be concerned about coronavirus?
At Health Connections Patient Transport Service, we’ve been reading and hearing about coronavirus. There are a lot of stories causing us all great cause for concern. But what exactly is coronavirus, and what are the risks? Very simply coronavirus is a type of virus, and as a group of viruses, are common across the world. Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China.
Because it’s a new illness, it’s not exactly known how it spreads from person to person. However similar viruses are spread by coughing and sneezing, in the same way that flu is spread. Therefore, when you sneeze or cough, droplets fall onto people who are nearby. These droplets are then inhaled by other people. Alternatively, droplets are picked up on hands and transferred to that person’s face when they touch their eyes or mouth.
Experts say that coronavirus has really poor survivability on surfaces, however how long the virus survives depends on certain factors, such as:
- what type of surface the virus is on
- whether it is exposed to sunlight
- temperature and humidity
- exposure to cleaning products
Infection Control
At Health Connections Patient Transport Service, infection control is an essential part of our service and is integral to patient safety. We ensure that all our staff are expertly trained to identify and deal with infection risks, including cross-infection and are able to take the necessary precautions and remedies.
To mitigate against coronavirus, we are meticulous about the cleanliness of our vehicles and ensure our infection control procedures are strictly followed. As we are told that these types of viruses do not survive for long on surfaces, we use a D7 disinfectant. D7 kills viruses on hard surfaces for up to eight hours, meaning it is very effective in preventing germs sprea