General information on disinfection

First step: clarifying whether disinfection is necessary

"For healthy people with no suspected coronavirus infection, it is entirely sufficient to use ordinary soap for washing hands, and ordinary cleaning products for cleaning. Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses, which means that their envelope is destroyed by soap […] and the virus is thus inactivated. Therefore, disinfectants should only be used by people and institutions where disinfection is necessary for medical reasons." (Source: AGES)

The Austrian Society of Hygiene, Microbiology and preventative Medicine (ÖGHMP) informs about measures to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2:

ÖGHMP: Sensible hygiene measures to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission (German only)

Further links

Information shared by the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK):
BMK - Covid-19 (German only)

Information shared by the Federal Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection (BMSGPK):
BMSGPK - Coronavirus

Information from the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety Ltd. (AGES):
AGES - Coronavirus (German only)

Information from the Digital Office:
Digital Office - Coronavirus

Second step: selection and use of disinfectants against harmful organisms such as viruses

Disinfectants are chemicals that are intended to control microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts or viruses. However, the properties that disinfectants must have to kill these organisms can be dangerous to humans or the environment. Therefore, there are a number of requirements that disinfectants must satisfy in order to be sufficiently effective and to have no harmful effects.

1) Selecting the right product

As there are disinfectants against different harmful organisms and for different uses, it is crucial that the appropriate product is selected for the purpose intended. The different uses are summarised under product types. To control viruses such as coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the following product types are relevant (among others):
 

Product type 1: Products for the purpose of disinfecting human skin or scalp

Here especially agents for hygienic hand disinfection are used, which can be applied without the need to add water.

Product type 2: Disinfectants not intended for direct application to humans or animals

Examples of uses of the products in this group are:

• Disinfection of surfaces, materials, equipment and furniture (usage areas including inter alia swimming pools, aquariums, bathing and other waters, air conditioning systems  and walls and floors in private, public and industrial areas)
• Disinfection of air, water not used for human or animal consumption, chemical toilets, waste water, hospital waste and soil
• Products incorporated in textiles, tissues, masks, paints and other articles or materials with the purpose of producing treated articles with disinfecting properties

Please note

Hand disinfectants are not suitable for surface disinfection and vice versa. The use of surface cleaning products for hands is particularly problematic and should be advised against in any case, as surface cleaning products can strongly irritate the hands, either by drying out the skin or because of potentially harmful additives. Hand disinfectants, on the other hand, are especially adapted to the skin and often contain, for example, remoisturising ingredients.

Labelling

Look at the label when using a disinfectant. It must contain the following information:

• Active ingredient (e.g. Propan-2-ol, hydrogen peroxide)
• Efficacy against viruses (information such as “kills viruses” or “full virucidal activity”, “limited spectrum virucidal activity”, “activity against enveloped viruses”)
• Directions for use stating the amount to be applied, the contact time until an effect is achieved and the duration of the effect.

If a product is not advertised as an agent that is effective against viruses (i.e. if the information on the label is missing), it has most likely not been tested against viruses. Therefore, such products are not suitable for use against viruses.

2) Proper use and contact time

Disinfectants of the product types mentioned above are suitable for external use only.

The contact time is the time that the disinfectant needs to be left on the surface to become fully effective. In general, the contact time for hygienic hand disinfectants is 30 seconds. The contact time for surface disinfection is between 5 and 60 minutes.

Only proper use guarantees the desired effects and the associated benefits!