On Radio Leeds this morning, they interviewed a virologist who answered listeners questions.
One question was “should we be wiping down door handles etc with bleach or Dettol type products.”
Her answer was very interesting and is information that should I think have been made widely public from the start.
The virus has a lipid based outer coating; so to kill the virus effectively you need to destroy the lipid coating and then the virus is dead.
Lipid is of course fat - so any soap based product is the most effective, which is why the information has always been “wash your hands with soap and water”*
She stated that you can use any detergent that you would use to destroy grease on plates etc, so washing up liquid etc is fine.
Re the bleach, this is effective but not good for the hands so not recommended for things like door handles which you would touch. You’d need to wipe the bleach off to avoid damaging your hands.
The excerpt is on BBC sounds app, Richard Stead Breakfast Show BBC Leeds and this comment was made somewhere between 9.50 and 10.00 today (26/3) if you’re interested.
* I know this has been widely mentioned but I never understood why - in my mind, something like a disinfectant would have been more efficient. Had they said the virus has a fatty coating so you need to destroy the fatty layer the whole washing with soap thing would have made more sense. Cynically I’d thought it more of a sop to stop public panicking and make everyone comfortable that they were “doing their bit” - rather like they did in the 70s public information handouts where they recommended hiding under the table with a white sheet in the event of nuclear attack, or brace position if the plane is going to crash..
