May 12, 2020 quick update
The
is reporting 4,254,302 global cases, 291,334 deaths, and 1,483,198 recovered.
1,367,491 US cases and 82,227 deaths 230,287 recovered as of 3:32pm on May 12.
As a whole, Europe has exhibited decreasing
since early April, while Africa, Asia, and South America are all steadily increasing. North America remains relatively steady, largely driven by the United States.
PLANS TO RELAX SOCIAL DISTANCING
Governments around the world, both at the national and sub-national levels, continue to announce plans to relax social distancing. The phased approach—ie, gradually and incrementally easing restrictions over time—appears to be favored. On Sunday,
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
announced the national COVID-19 recovery plan.
proceeds in 3 steps. The first step starts tomorrow and keeps many existing restrictions in place and encourages continued remote work to the extent possible; however, some measures will ease. Step 2, which the UK government tentatively aims to begin implementing on June 1, will permit some non-essential retail businesses and schools to resume operations. Step 3 will expand the operation of non-essential businesses, to include “hairdressers and beauty salons” and pubs. Step 3 will not commence any earlier than July 4.
In the United States, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the state’s plan to begin relaxing social distancing measures. The
will operate on a regional level, enabling some parts of the state to resume activities before others, if they meet the designated criteria.
SPORTS
Several major sports leagues are beginning to develop and implement plans to resume competition.
will resume its 2020 season on May 17 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. NASCAR will compete without fans present, and teams will implement social distancing measures.
(MLB) has reportedly reached an agreement to begin the delayed 2020 season this July.
CRUISE SHIPS
recently announced that it intends to resume services on select cruise routes starting August 1. Despite the elevated risk of onboard transmission, prospective passengers were reportedly eager to make reservations. According to one report, representatives from a travel agency indicated that
bookings since the announcement were 3 times the volume
reported during the same period in 2019.
May 12 Topic: The dirty truth about keeping clean during COVD-19 with Bill Yeadon of Jon Don
Special Guest: Bill Yeadon
Bill Yeadon has been in the cleaning and restoration industry since 1975 and is currently Customer Training Director at JonDon - He's sitting down with us tonight to share everything you need to know about cleaning protocol to keep yourself out of trouble, where to find PPE equipment, pre-appointment checklists and more. These are important things to know no matter what industry you're in.
Billy can you give us a brief overview of what you do and what JonDon does?
JonDon has been around since 1978. We are a national distributor of cleaning products.
Since 1994 I have been in charge of customer training which means I do trainings and bring in trainors.
You have an interesting POV on fear vs respect when booking and performing jobs during this time
Fear is about the unknown, what we cannot control
We have a right to be fearful, but we have to continue to go through the process of what we do because we are the people that have to go in and take care of the situation, we are essential industries.
Respect starts from the first phone call. The person answering the call is the most crucial aspect. They need empathy and knowledge and they build the trust factor before the technician gets there.
For the technician, how you look and present yourself is the whole thing whether or not that customer feels about you and this is where respect comes in.
We conducted a poll with the audience asking, have you been in a house or building with a positive covid case?
14% responded that they have
56% responded that they have not
30% responded that they don’t know
Let’s talk about protocol for going into a building that has had a known case of COVID. What do the pros watching regardless of industry need to know?
First off you need to determine if you are prepared or not.
Majority in the cleaning industry, 95%, do not have the right insurance. Very few policies covered viruses prior to COVID-19.
If you don’t have forensic training or meticulous training for biocontamination, or asked what type of PPE you need, you are not prepared.
You need to go back to basics
Everyday cleaning and deep cleaning are still the best things you can do if there’s no COVID-19 present.
Deep cleaning is really about hot water extraction
Everyone wants to talk about disinfectants, but a virus is really just a lipid or fat, any type of surfactant, aka soap or detergent, is going to destroy it.
A common thing we’ve heard with our Pros is uncertainty around “what should i say what should i not say” with customers. Can you walk us through the protocol if you're entering into someone's home as a professional what you should/shouldn't say, what you should/shouldn't do, etc? Everyone wants to know, are you going to disinfect my home?
Disinfectants are ruled by the EPA, they are pesticides, and you must have a pesticide license to use these products
You cannot apply disinfectant to carpet and call it disinfected, EPA has rules around this
Applying a disinfectant does not destroy the virus, we are inactivating it because it's not alive to begin with
We do not have any test for effectiveness of cleaning products against current COVID-19 strain. If products say Coronavirus, they are referring to the type of virus but not COVID-19.
Make sure you say you are deep cleaning, you won’t get in trouble for saying this.
The label on cleaning products is the law. FIFRA is the law that lays out the guidelines that tell us how to use it, what tools to use, and what it does.
If you make statements that are not on the label you are in direct violation of the law and when this is over, lawyers will be busy because they know there are violations against the labels.
Sanitizing vs Disinfecting
What you should be saying is I applied a disinfectant. Name the product as per label directions and then the label makes the claims.
If it is on a soft surface like carpet, I have applied it but now it becomes a sanitizer because there is no such thing as a label for this.
Disinfectant kills to a higher degree than sanitizer.
How many of you send a pre appointment checklist? Bill, why is this important? How do you recommend distributing this to a customer?
FREE RESOURCE:
Use this checklist to ensure you and your team are taking the proper precautions and make your customers more safe
This will help you build trust and set you apart from competitors that aren’t doing this
PPE gear -- whats easy to find, what's hard to find and what they should be bringing with them on every job?
Let’s start with the essentials you need to have:
Mask
Booties/shoe covers
Multiple gloves- you need 2 pairs on at the same time. Make them 2 different colors so you can see if your outer glove is torn
Disposable tie back suit
Prior to job- disinfecting the equipment prior to the job
Where is the best place to find these products?
Jon-Don is probably the best place to source these items
Disinfectants are back in stock but it is still difficult to find gloves, masks, and Tyvek suits because they are coming from China and are being sent to hospitals first.
Place your order even if they're out of stock so that your name is top of the list and you will get in sooner than waiting until back in stock.
You don’t need disinfectants on every job, deep cleaning is still the most important
PRO TIP: If you end up with more PPE gear than you need, reach out to another home service business. There’s no better way to start a relationship than having them owe you a favor and help them out. Don’t stockpile these
Questions from Audience
Bill says most of us aren’t aren’t prepared and mentioned forensic training for cleaning yet basic cleaning with soap is the best thing today. Am I misunderstanding? Can you clarify?
If you're going in specifically to take care of COVID cases then you need that special training. If you’re going into homes where you don’t think there is COVID, that’s a basic cleaning job. But we still have to dress appropriately. You need to understand at least a little bit about PPE and the idea about PPE is that you assess the PPE needs at each individual job and situation.
I am a realtor, and I’ve been experiencing how to show homes by having customers put on clean booties and after we are done I will clean the counters and doorknobs, etc. Listening to you I think I need to do so much more. If a customer gets sick they can always look for the company that has deep pockets, can you advise?
There is a dwell time for each cleaning product, and it is printed on the label. Follow these instructions for how long it has to stay wet and carry a microfiber towel. The microfiber towel has 8 sides when you fold it over every time you do a counter you should use one side but don’t use that side again. Squeegees are actually 70% more effective than microfiber cloths.
PRO TIP: Marketing/Social Media Idea: Create a quick video of yourself telling customers not to just pray Lysol and think that you’re disinfecting because it has to be wet. This quick tip to your customers shows that you care.
Can you share how effective plain distilled water is?
An ATP meter is a reader that reads the amount of soil on a material. Take a reading before you clean and after. The idea is that it shows a great difference that is visual, but it doesn’t show anything for viruses.
You need to document every clean you do with a GoPro or using the ATP readings. At the end of this they are going to want some sort of documentation of what you did.
Have you heard of the UV Flashing they are using in hotels to clear all viruses?
UV is used in certain situations for water purification.
I’m not sure if there is enough data evidence to believe UV is doing anything for this virus, but it does make people feel better. The data just doesn’t show that it’s doing much.
Let’s talk about fogging. What is your view of fogging?
From the EPA, I just printed it out and let me read it to you. ”The EPA does not recommend the use of fumigation which is fogging or wide area spreading to control COVID-19. The CDC recommends that you clean contaminated surfaces with liquid products such as those provided on their list to prevent the spread of disease.”
It doesn’t say you can’t use it. But use it as your last step and follow the label and use the right PPE gear.
You cannot disinfect or sanitize anything that hasn’t been pre-cleaned.
Fogging as the quick profit maker destroys trust with your company and the industry as a whole.
How do you disinfect an air filter in an HVAC unit?
Unless it’s permanent filter, replace the filter
Look at the manufacturer instructions or give them a call and then state that directly back to your customers
Bill you have been doing many great webinars. Can you share with everyone where they can find your webinars?
Wednesdays at 2pm Eastern, register for the next webinar on Facebook:
See past webinars here:
If our Pros were to do one thing tomorrow, what would it be?
Read
Cleaning for Health by Michael Berry
. If you read this and absorb it, you will be able to answer any question that customers have about how to take care of their home or building.
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Legal disclaimer
Housecall Pro is offering the Coronavirus Evening Update for Home Service Businesses for informational purposes only and to foster thoughtful communication and discussion regarding the COVID-19 pandemic; Housecall Pro is not offering advisory services or otherwise advising or representing any members of the group invited to participate. Housecall Pro is not offering legal, medical or other professional advice in the Coronavirus Evening Update and makes no representations or warranties regarding the content of the Coronavirus Evening Update. Participants should obtain independent advice relating to their businesses and their particular circumstances.
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