So, I walk into a restaurant and see an employee wiping tables with a lightly soiled rag and a quarter filled, label-less spray bottle in un-gloved hands. To my left, I see an empty hand-sanitizer dispenser with a decent amount of its contents leaking from the drip tray to the floor beneath it. On the host counter, I see a sign printed in Times New Roman font that says, “Tables disinfected routinely for your safety”.
This sight is far too common and sparks more questions than the manager has answers to. I know because I’ve asked. It is very concerning and I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Contrary to certain schools of thought, hygiene awareness “Ain’t no passing craze”. Facility transmission of illnesses didn’t just magically appear with SARS-COV-2. In fact, the first Human coronavirus was identified in 1965.
Why isn’t there a cure for the common cold? Because “cold” is an umbrella term for several hundred different continually mutating viruses. Same for stomach flu & flu for that matter, which has several types and 131 known “sub-types”.
I remember my daughter’s elementary school closing for a week in winter 2017 because a “stomach-bug” that was rampant in an entirely different district made its way to their campus and took down over a quarter of the students & staff (did I mention staph infections?)
My point should be painfully obvious by now; people will not stop getting sick “post-Covid19”, and the “old-normal” was not doing a great job at keeping us well.
A better, healthier “new-normal” requires transparent infection prevention practices, not just taking a sign’s word for it. We must use innovative technologies from nano-tech and sensors to insightful digital displays/portals even robots.
You want to know what’s in the unlabeled spray bottle. You want proof that the wipe-downs aren’t just swirling bacteria around on the surfaces you touch, work & dine on. There’s tech to keep that hand-sanitizer station full & tidy. You don’t have to guess if your server washed their hands after wiping their sweat or nose. Is the air in this facility contaminated?
You don’t have to wait for the future. Businesses are partnering with companies like Victory Lab Micro-Clean who are vetting, developing, and delivering these solutions to facilities and campuses today! If you feel your employer or favorite restaurant could be doing more to protect your health, you are most likely correct. Speak up and put them to task. Vote with your dollars and labor.
Today, the primary contributor to facility transmitted infections Is is ignorance and negligence.