Germs can be spread from person to person or by touching unclean equipment or surfaces. We now know, for example, it can live on surfaces for up to nine days and survives in the air for a few hours. We also now know that the virus particles are shed through saliva and fluids coughed up from the lungs.

The best way to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, is to wash you hands and disinfect day to day surfaces, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Soap and water

Soap and water are your first line of defence to remove the virus from surfaces. Soap interferes with the fats in the virus shell and lift the virus from surfaces and this is then rinsed off by water.

Of course, you also need to wash your hands when you come in from the shops and wash your food as normal.

Bleach

The active ingredient in bleach – sodium hypochlorite – is very effective at killing the virus. Make sure you leave the bleach to work for 10-15 minutes then give the surface a wipe with a clean cloth.

The bleach works by destroying the protein and what’s known as the ribonucleic acid (RNA) of the virus – this is the substance that gives the blueprint for making more virus particles when you become infected. Be sure to use the bleach as directed on the bottle.

Surgical spirit

Surgical spirit is mostly made up of the alcohol ethanol. Ethanol has been shown to kill COVID-19 in as little as 30 seconds. Like bleach, the alcohol destroys the protein and RNA that the virus is made up of.

Moisten a cloth with some neat surgical spirit and rub it over a surface. This will evaporate and you will not need to wipe it off.

Surface wipes

The active ingredient in surface wipes is an antiseptic – usually benzalkonium chloride. The wipes work by physically removing germs through the pressure you apply when you use them, and the germs then attach to the wipe.

They also leave a layer of the antiseptic on the surface that works to kill germs. The antiseptic works well on bacteria as well as on COVID-19 that infect mice and dogs – but it seems to make no difference to the spread of human COVID-19.

Hand sanitisers

A word of warning though about hand sanitisers. The main ingredient in hand sanitisers that will kill COVID-19 is ethanol, the alcohol in surgical spirit. But its concentration in the sanitiser is very important – it has to be over 70 percent or it will not kill the virus effectively.

One thing you can also do is make sure you air out the spaces you are spending time in regularly. An infected person will produce thousands of tiny droplets which contain the virus every time they cough.

COVID-19 can survive in the air for up to three hours. So by opening the window, you can remove and disperse the droplets and reduce the amount of virus in the air – which will reduce the risk of infection for others.

We are living in uncertain times but it’s reassuring to know that we have some weapons we can use to in our homes.

The bottom line: keep washing your hands, use 70 percent hand sanitiser, dust off the bleach and open a window to let in the spring air.