PARIS: The novel coronavirus has killed at least 1,350,275 people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1100 GMT on Thursday.

At least 56,234,440 cases of coronavirus have been registered. Of these, at least 36,029,400 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organisation (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections. Many countries are testing only symptomatic or the most serious cases.

On Wednesday, 11,013 new deaths and 582,654 new cases were recorded worldwide.

Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were the United States with 1,751 new deaths, followed by Brazil with 756 and Italy with 753.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 250,548 deaths from 11,529,818 cases. At least 4,350,789 people have been declared recovered.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 167,455 deaths from 5,945,849 cases, India with 131,578 deaths from 8,958,483 cases, Mexico with 99,528 deaths from 1,015,071 cases, and the United Kingdom with 53,274 deaths from 1,430,341 cases.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Belgium with 130 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Peru with 107, Spain 90 and Argentina at 80.

China – excluding Hong Kong and Macau – has to date declared 86,381 cases, including 4,634 deaths and 81,433 recoveries.

Latin America and the Caribbean overall has 428,767 deaths from 12,227,735 cases, Europe 354,124 deaths from 15,440,652 infections, and the United States and Canada 261,701 deaths from 11,838,887 cases.

Asia has reported 184,739 deaths from 11,652,379 cases, the Middle East 71,635 deaths from 3,028,240 cases, Africa 48,368 deaths from 2,016,461 cases, and Oceania 941 deaths from 30,088 cases.

As a result of corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24 hours may not correspond exactly to the previous day's tallies. - AFP

• Turn off the water at the shutoff valve and drain tank by flushing the toilet.
• Disconnect the water supply line with an adjustable wrench.
• Unscrew the tank bolts using a screwdriver and an adjustable wrench.

2Remove the Toilet Tank
 Remove the toilet tank and gently place it upside down on an old towel or rug. 

• Unscrew the spud nut with a spud wrench or a pair of slip joint pliers and remove the old flush valve.
• Slide the cone washer onto the tailpiece of the new flush valve - the beveled side of the cone washer should point toward the end of the tailpiece.
• Insert the flush valve into the tank opening so that the overflow pipe faces the fill valve.

Screw the spud nut back onto the tailpiece of the new flush valve, tighten with a spud wrench or a pair of slip joint pliers, and place the soft spud washer over the tailpiece.



4Reinstall the Toilet Tank and Replace the flapper

• Reinstall the toilet tank and connect water supply line. 
• Replace the flapper and reconnect the refill tube to the top of the overflow tube.
• Turn on the water and check for leaks. 

 

Given the choice between using a public bathroom and doing anything else, some people will always choose the latter. Regardless of the urgency or however pristine it’s reported to be, the space comes with an ick factor, says Dr. John Ross, who practices hospital medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and is board-certified in infectious diseases.

That image is hard to shake even in normal times, but COVID-19 has done nothing to make public bathrooms more appealing, as they come with high-touch surfaces and often lidless toilets. Ross says that it’s easy to see them as hotbeds of infection and avoid them in the name of safety. But not using them has caused people to reorganize their days, figuring out how many errands can be done in one trip, when to stop drinking water, and preventing the possibility of socially-distant visits with friends and relatives.

Weighing the risks compared to other indoor activities

There’s no clear-cut answer. The coronavirus requires each person to assess each situation, says Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious diseases and vice chairman of the department of medicine at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Ross says that as an indoor space, a public bathroom is not necessarily a safe environment, but it’s also on par with other indoor spaces. In some ways, it’s a lower-level risk in comparison, but it comes down to the components. One area of concern is the air. A flush creates an aerosol spray (the toilet plume), and the virus exists in feces. Taken together, and since the virus enters the body through mucus membranes, that would seem worrisome, but Ross and Ellerin say the research suggests otherwise.

A recent study of two hospitals in Wuhan, China, found that the highest aerosol concentration was in a bathroom, although it noted that it was a temporary, single-toilet room with no ventilation. The study also found that sanitization and ventilation effectively limited the virus’s concentration in aerosols. Another recent study that analyzed samples from patients hospitalized with COVID-19 found that attempts to isolate the virus from stool samples were never successful, and that existing fragments were not infectious.

Ross adds that the flush is a one-time event, and any direct plume is from a person’s own feces; if the virus was present, that person would already be infected. “Our own fecal plume poses no risk to us,” he says. If someone else in the bathroom happens to flush, there are barriers blocking direct contact. “The risk of bathroom exposure is largely theoretical — possible, but not proven,” he says.

There are other elements in play that make the bathroom less risky than it might seem. Your exposure time is a factor with transmission. Ellerin says that if an unmasked interaction within six feet lasts under 15 minutes and doesn’t include coughing or sneezing, the transmission risk is still low. Since most bathroom visits will probably be shorter, “time is on your side,” he says. “Save the long visits for your home.”

The number of people you’ll be around is another factor. Ross says that more than the plume, being coughed on is a bigger concern. Wearing a mask provides a needed layer to anything in the air. The barriers in the bathroom also keep people separate, making less chance for face-to-face contact. “That’s also in your favor,” Ellerin says.

Ross says that other indoor activities, which are more socially acceptable, can offer a greater risk, such going to bars, weddings, religious services, and indoor parties. They all can be tightly packed. Music might be playing, causing people to lean in and speak to each other. Alcohol can make people relax and forget about distancing, and when there’s singing, breaths are forcibly ejected into the air. In many of these settings, masks might not be required and might not be worn, further encouraging the spread.

So what’s the best way use a public bathroom?

The fundamental steps are: Put a mask on before you enter. Wash your hands immediately after. You can also wear glasses to protect your eyes. There are a number of high-touch surfaces, and the virus, along with bacteria, can exist on them. It’s good to minimize contact by using your foot or toilet paper when lifting, turning, or pulling anything, Ross says.

Contact before going to the bathroom isn’t as important, since you’ll be washing your hands, but even if you touch a surface, Ross says that the virus won’t go through your skin. The main thing is to not touch your face, specifically your mouth, nose, or eyes, before washing. And before you leave, use your foot, elbow (if possible), or a paper towel to open the door, and once outside, spray your hands with a sanitizer.

Ellerin says don’t overlook cleaning your glasses and cell phone. “Is your iPhone a major risk? Probably not, but it could be a potential source for some individuals,” he says. “That’s the thing with COVID-19. We don’t know, so it’s good to disinfect high-touch areas. Some people will take their own extra steps with cleaning, because it provides a greater sense of psychological confidence, since there’s still much uncertainty.”

But doing what’s known, such as washing hands, wearing a mask, and minimizing close contact, while it doesn’t guarantee safety, can help people consider options and re-engage with lost activities. “When it comes to the bathroom,” Ellerin says, “follow the basic hygiene, get in and out, and you’re probably in a low-risk group.”

For more information about the coronavirus and COVID-19, see the Harvard Health Publishing Coronavirus Resource Center.

Is your old toilet seat broken or rattling? We’ll show you exactly what you need to do when measuring for your new toilet seat, to ensure it fits perfectly first time.

According to a recent survey of our customers, nearly half of all those who responded had a loose or broken toilet seat, which they simply hadn’t got round to fixing or replacing.

There are many reasons why people put off fitting a new toilet seat, with one of the main ones being that toilet seats don’t come in a standard size. Toilet seats go through plenty of wear and tear in their time, so it’s unsurprising that so many require replacing.

The great news is, you can replace a toilet seat quickly and easily, without having to break the bank. To help make sure your new toilet seat fits like a glove, watch our video below to find out which measurements you need to take. All you need to do is grab a tape measure, a pencil and some paper.

Toilet plumes can launch germy droplets in the air. Experts share the precautions you should take before answering nature’s call in public restrooms.

THE discovery of coronavirus in the bathroom of an unoccupied apartment in Guangzhou, China, suggests the airborne pathogen may have wafted upwards through drain pipes, an echo of a large Sars outbreak in Hong Kong 17 years ago.

Traces of SARS-CoV-2 were detected in February on the sink, faucet and shower handle of a long-vacant apartment, researchers at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a study published this month in Environment International. The contaminated bathroom was directly above the home of five people confirmed a week earlier to have Covid-19.

The scientists conducted ''an on-site tracer simulation experiment'' to see whether the virus could be spread through waste pipes via tiny airborne particles that can be created by the force of a toilet flush. They found such particles, called aerosols, in bathrooms 10 and 12 levels above the Covid-19 cases. Two cases were confirmed on each of those floors in early February, raising concern that SARS-CoV-2-laden particles from stool had drifted into their homes via plumbing.
 

The new report is reminiscent of a case at Hong Kong's Amoy Gardens private housing estate almost two decades ago, when 329 residents caught severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars, in part because of faulty sewage pipelines. Forty-two residents died, making it the most devastating community outbreak of Sars, which is also caused by a coronavirus.

''Although transmission via the shared elevator cannot be excluded, this event is consistent with the findings of the Amoy Gardens Sars outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003,'' Song Tang, a scientist with the China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, and colleagues wrote in the study, which cited unpublished data from the health agency.

Apartments in multistorey buildings may be linked via a shared wastewater system, said Lidia Morawska, director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at Australia's Queensland University of Technology. While solids and liquids descend the network, sewer gases – often detectable by their odour – sometimes rise through pipes in the absence of sufficient water, said Morawska, who wasn't part of the research team.

''If there's smell, it means that somehow air has been transported to where it shouldn't go,'' Morawska said in an interview.

RESPIRATORY DROPLETS

SARS-CoV-2 spreads mainly through respiratory droplets – spatters of saliva or discharge from the nose, according to the World Health Organisation. Since the first weeks of the pandemic, however, scientists in China have said infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus in the stool of Covid-19 patients may also play a role in transmission. A February study of 73 patients hospitalised with the coronavirus in Guangdong province found more than half tested positive for the virus in their stool.

Previous research has shown that toilet flushes can generate germ-laden aerosols from the excreta, the China CDC scientists said. Those particles can remain in the air for long periods and be dispersed over distances of more than 1 meter (3 feet), particularly in confined, poorly ventilated spaces.

Faecal aerosolisation occurred with Sars, and it's possible that it may rarely occur with SARS-CoV-2, depending on sewage systems, said Malik Peiris, chair of virology at the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health. The China CDC study found traces of virus, ''which is not the same thing as infectious virus,'' he said. ''But one has to keep the possibility in mind.''

FAECAL PLUME

In the Amoy Gardens case, warm, moist air from the bathroom of a Sars patient excreting ''extremely high concentrations'' of virus in faeces and urine established a plume in an air shaft that spread the airborne virus to other apartments, research showed.

Although toilets are a daily necessity, they ''may promote faecal-derived aerosol transmission if used improperly, particularly in hospitals,'' the China CDC researchers said. They cited a fluid-dynamics simulation that showed a ''massive upward transport of virus aerosol particles'' during flushing, leading to large-scale virus spread indoors.

''The study finds high plausibility for airborne transmission and outlines the evidence in great detail,'' said Raina MacIntyre, professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, who was part of an international team invited to collaborate with China CDC on the study.

A shared toilet was implicated in a SARS-CoV-2 infection that likely occurred on an evacuation flight from Milan to South Korea in late March, researchers said in a report in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.

AIRPLANE TOILET

A 28-year-old woman developed Covid-19 symptoms about a week after the flight, during which she wore an N95 respirator mask, except when she used a toilet. The toilet was shared by other passengers, including one seated three rows away who was infected but had no symptoms. Because of strict infection control procedures implemented immediately before and during the flight, the authors concluded that the most plausible explanation for the infection is that it was acquired via indirect contact with an asymptomatic passenger while using an onboard toilet.

Previous investigations confirmed that SARS-CoV-2 genetic material was found on toilets used by Covid-19 patients, in the air in hospital nurses' stations, on air outlet vents, and multiple other sites. The extent to which faecal aerosol plumes are infecting people with the SARS-CoV-2 virus isn't known, said Queensland's Morawska.

''There are lots of situations where things happen and are pretty unusual,'' said Morawska, who was part of a team that studied the Amoy Gardens contagion. Scientists should investigate the ''unusual situations'' because, by understanding them, they may find ''they're not that unusual.'' – Bloomberg

Nearly half the population of the UK are now cleaning their toilets more frequently as a result of the global pandemic, according to Harpic.

However, only 45 per cent say they close the lid of the loo before flushing. One toilet flush produces thousands of tiny aerosol droplets which may contain bacteria and viruses capable of contaminating surfaces up to six feet away, according to Harpic.

The company used high-speed specialist camera technology to capture images of droplets and particles leaving a toilet in a bid to raise awareness of the issue.

''There has never been a more important time to take extra care around our homes,'' said a Harpic research and development associate. ''Although the risks associated with germ spread in unhygienic bathrooms are high, the solution to keeping them clean is simple.''

The company advises householders to close the lid when flushing and to wear gloves when cleaning the toilet as an extra level of protection. It also advocates the use of toilet cleaning products that can remove the limescale where germs can collect.

The Harpic study revealed that 45 per cent of Britons are deep cleaning their bathrooms more frequently in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, while 44 per cent are mopping the floor more often.

A total of 47 per cent of respondents said they were unaware of any risks involved when failing to close the lid when flushing. However, 95 per cent of those who were made aware of the high-speed flush images said they would close the lid in future.

You can look at it any way that you want to, but when you ask your self the question: ‘how to choose a toilet that is a good fit for my home‘, you will find out that there are some very specific things you want because good toilets have better features. Because there are also blanks with some of your questions, the best way to answer them is to get it all out in the open so that you understand the basics of toilets. There is nothing confusing in this guide, and it rather focuses on providing an outlet for you to put your ideas on one page to make a better decision. There is no wrong choice if you get all the features you want, and once you go through this short guide you’ll have a better understanding of what it is that makes sense for the home installation. As an added bonus any new age toilet chosen is easy to install and lacks the headaches of older models.

How to Pick the Right Toilet?

Size

Depending on where the installation is taking place, customers may want to redo the measurements. This includes the rough in size and the height from the bottom of the toilet to the toilet seat. Little things like toilet seat height could turn a purchase that looks good on paper to an uncomfortable mess once installed. This includes if you are installing a toilet meant solely for a small kid’s bathroom and they are uncomfortable on elongated toilets. Or what if you purchase a toilet that sits a little higher than what they’re comfortable with? Then it is back to the drawing board and possible money down the drain. Checking and rechecking the measurements will help a lot, and if you are installing it into a bathroom with limited space, then make note of whether the new toilet will be bigger than the current toilet. It’s a small gesture that will go a long way in giving you the most worry free install experience possible.
 

Price

The prices for toilets will vary depending on the type you are getting and from what company. There are very few low priced quality toilets available, so be wary on going too cheap with the price as that just means it is an inferior product. Some companies even offer package deals by selling two toilets as one and shaving off some of the price. Not all companies offer this, but in a case where a buyer needs more than one toilet it could potentially save them a lot of money. Be wary of features you don’t need so that overpaying isn’t even an option. It may be tempting to want to buy a toilet with a nightlight, but if you know that you aren’t going to use that feature then why pay extra for it? There is a lot of competition in the toilet market, so for every toilet that has that 1 extra feature you don’t need there is another toilet with the same specs, and lacking that unneeded feature. Shop smart toilets and only target features that mean something to you like water efficiency or power of the flush.

Water Usage

With the industry standard being set at 1.6 gallons per flush, buyers are safe in that all the new toilets won’t surpass that threshold. But smart shoppers shouldn’t settle for the industry standard if their main goal is to save money with their water bill. Dual flush toilets are the new craze, and it has two buttons to give you a flush that uses a small amount or water or a power flush that uses the full 1.6 amount. These toilets can get a little high in price, so for other customers the alternative is to settle for a toilet that is either high powered or water efficient. This can create a dilemma, since no one wants to make the wrong decision and have to send the toilet back. The easiest decision is to purchase the dual flush, but if that is out of your price range, then it is a safe bet to go with toilets that use as little as 1.28 gallons per flush. These are Watersense certified toilets and it is a safe middle ground between saving water resources and giving you the power you need to get a good flush. Variety is pretty good with the 1.28 models so customers are sure to come away with something that they love. If you are looking for the best rated flushing toilets see this guide.

Summary

A combination of size, water usage information and price should be all a customer needs to make an educated decision on the perfect toilet for their home. Things don’t really get complicated, but they sure do get exciting with all of the options that are pushed in your face. Since everyone has different tastes, there is no telling what you may end up taking home. As long as you do your homework, you’ll do your new bathroom addition justice

We have all become much more aware of the risks of picking up infections during the Covid-19 pandemic so, as we enter a new phase of unlocking, here are some tips to keep in mind if you need to use a public toilet while out and about. 

How safe are public toilets to use?

Public toilets by definition carry greater infection risks than toilets in your home because they are used by a larger number of people whose health status is unknown. Add to this the lack of responsibility some people take over their hygiene when using these facilities. And that’s before you even consider the extra dimension of the picking up infections during a pandemic.

Are public toilets a particular risky place to pick up Covid-19?

Recent reports have drawn attention to the so-called “toilet plume” – the infectious droplets in the air that arise from a toilet after use. One study reported in the Physics of Fluids journal focused on the potential risk of infection from virus-laden faeces aside from the commonly known spread of infection through respiratory droplets. As the rate of infection of the novel coronavirus remains low in Ireland, the risk of getting infected in this way also remains low; however, flushing the toilet with the lid down (using toilet paper to put the lid down rather than your bare hands) before use and waiting a minute before using the toilet is an extra precaution you can take to avoid all kinds of bugs.

What other precautions should I take when using public toilets?
Avoid touching any surface with your bare hands while you are using the toilet.  Open the toilet door with a tissue and then throw that tissue in the toilet. Put the lid of the toilet down after using it before flushing. Stand away from a toilet that has an automatic flusher. And, most importantly of all, wash and dry your hands thoroughly after using the toilet. Some experts also recommend wearing a face mask to prevent exposure to infectious droplets in and around public toilets. Avoid touching your face until you have washed and dried your hands.
 

Are some public toilets safer than others?

Local authorities and shopping centres have new hygiene protocols around public toilets in the past few weeks. Dublin City Council has installed new sets of public toilets outside the St Stephen’s Green shopping centre in Dublin 2 and in Wolfe Tone Square in Dublin 1, which are managed by a cleaner and a security guard daily from 10am to 8pm. Since they have been installed, they have been used over 1,000 times a day. In Dundrum Town Centre, only every second toilet cubicle, urinal and sink is in use. If queues form, toilets are closed off and customers are directed to toilets on other levels of the shopping centre.

Are public toilets in shopping centres safer than on-street public toilets?

This is debatable as it depends on how often the toilets are cleaned and the social distancing and hygiene measures observed by users of these facilities. However, one thing is clear, toilets with multiple stalls (as opposed to one single public toilet) which are not all in constant use allow users to choose a toilet that has been free for a longer time, thus reducing the risk of picking up an infection from someone who has just stepped out of the toilet. Toilets with windows create an extra air flow, which also reduces the risk of infection.

What about toilets in pubs, restaurants and cafes?

Pubs, cafes and restaurants have been advised to have a clear queueing system in place, so that social distancing measures are observed. Toilets must be cleaned at least twice a day. Soap, hand sanitiser dispensers and disposable tissue dispensers must be regularly checked, cleaned and maintained.

Use of toilets in bars, cafes and restaurants is at the discretion of the owner/manager of the premises. However, some owners/managers may require contact details of those who use the toilets for the purposes of contact tracing should an outbreak of Covid-19 be traced back to that particular bar or restaurant.

Keep your toilet lid closed when you flush - that's the advice being pushed by researchers in their continuing fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Chinese study has revealed what goes down when you flush a toilet, and importantly, what stays up.

Published in the journal Physics of Fluids, the research showed that when a toilet is flushed, a cloud of tiny droplets is propelled up to three feet in the air.

These micro-particles can then 'hang' in the air for up to one minute - enough time to be breathed in by the next person needing to go.

Recent studies show the Covid-19 virus can survive as it passes through a person's digestive tract, becoming present in their feces.

A flushing toilet is known to disperse other virus and bacteria in the air, in a process known as fecal-oral transmission.

Though person to person transmission of Covid-19 via this way wasn't clearly established by the study, the researchers say it's entirely possible, given the evidence.The team from Yangzhou University analysed computer models that simulated the water and airflow in two types of flushing toilets.

They discovered that when water hits the toilet bowl, a large amount of turbulence is generated, leading to the formation of vortices. These vortices continue upwards past the bowl and into the air, accelerating droplets of fecal matter to speeds of up to five metres per second.

''The simulation results are alarming in that a massive upward transport of virus particles is observed,'' reports the study. ''In addition, 40%–60% of particles reached above the toilet seat, leading to large-scale virus spread.''

The investigators recommended that people close toilet lids when they flush and practice good hygiene, such as thoroughly washing their hands and cleaning the toilet seat before use.

With lockdown measures easing in some countries, people are now returning to the office and other public spaces such as shops and parks.

However, public and work toilets could still pose a risk for spreading Covid-19, particularly in facilities with no toilet lid to put down.

The study authors note: ''Blocking the path of fecal-oral transmission, which occurs commonly in toilet usage, is of fundamental importance in suppressing the spread of viruses. However, to date, efforts at improving sanitary safety in toilet use have been insufficient.''

The study authors also recommend manufacturers start rethinking toilet designs to help minimize the spread of other viruses and bacteria when they flush

The toilet has a lot to do with personal hygiene and general health as it is a place that can not be avoided since it is essential to take a bath and visit the toilet often in a day,  keeping it clean and free from anything that can endanger health is important.

The toilet, like the bathroom, is a humid area of the house, due to the amount of water in the cistern. A toilet is also a perfect place for germs and bacteria to breed. Bacteria’s like E-coli, Salmonella and much more can mostly be found in the toilet bowl. These bacteria’s are also found on the toilet seat, the floor, the flush and the door handle. Bacteria in the toilet absorb organic waste and release gases which is the reason why we get a foul odor in the toilets. Hence toilet hygiene is very important.

Basic Tips To Toilet Hygiene

Sweep the floor and pick up any trash: When sweeping, start in one corner of the bathroom and sweep in overlapping strokes toward a single area. Collect trash and put it in the dustbin.

Clean the mirror and lights: Clean mirrors with a tissue paper. Dust and disinfect lights, vents, faucets, fans and light switches.Disinfect all high-touch areas: Disinfect toilet flush handles, door knobs, faucets, paper towel dispensers, stall locks, light switches, and wall. Disinfectants need to sit on a surface for several minutes in order to kill pathogens. Use floor cleaning solution to scrub floors, baseboards, tiles, grout and especially the areas around toilets and urinals.

Shut the lid before flushing: Every time you flush the toilet, bacteria are projected into the air and then cover all the surrounding surfaces. So it is extremely crucial to always flush the toilet with the toilet lid down. This practice will reduce the spread of bacteria in the toilet.

Clean your toilet brushes: Remember to clean the toilet brush which can spread bacteria if not cleaned after every use. Wash toilet brush with disinfecting detergent. Toilet brushes should be changed at least once every six months.

Ventilate your toilet: Air the toilet to reduce the level of humidity in the room and check that the ventilation system is working properly. Allow floor to dry fully. The fastest way to do this is by using a dry mop, which can help sop up any solution that’s left on the floor after mopping. This practice also helps reduce the risk of slips and falls.

Use Toilet Seat Sanitiser: Clean the toilet seat daily with a product specifically designed to reduce the spread of bacteria. If you have children, do the same for their toilet seat as well. Use products like toilet seat sanitizer spray which removes harmful germs and bacteria.

Toilet seats can be downright difficult to get a sparkling status, which means you end up spending much more time than you would like, crouching down beside the toilet scrubbing away.Wash your hands regularly: Go over the flush and the taps with extra care as they are breeding grounds for bacteria. These are ideal places to pick up microbes as they are in direct contact with our hands. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap every time you use the toilet.

It has been advised for all to imbibe the culture of hand washing, and ensuring personal and environmental hygiene are adopted, it reduces the number of people suffering from communicable disease linked to poor hygiene and sanitation.

Due to the growing challenges posed toilet hygiene there are strategies that were put in place to raise awareness on hygiene and behavioural change, among them the Community organization which are hardly adhered to.

Schools, churches and mosques and other public places are areas found to have these challenges, it is important to know how to use a public toilet, If you must

1. Avoid sitting on the toilet bowl.

3. Flush before every use.2. Disinfect before use.

General Tips On Toilet hygiene

Since good toilet hygiene reduces the risk of illnesses, infection and diseases like gastrointestinal and urinary tract infection.

It is important to note that hand washing is an essential practice.

Effective hand washing involves clean water and soap and scrubbing both the front and back of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails for a minimum of 20 seconds can keep you safe. It is important to avoid touching different toilets surfaces like faucets and door handles after a hand wash since these surfaces harbour and spread germs.

Training children on hygiene is also important. For instance, boys should be trained about not urinating on toilets seats and girls about wiping from front to back to avoid spreading germs to their genitals.Using disposable towels or toilet paper is a good way to avoid touching such surfaces. Flushing and covering toilet seats after using the toilet is important as well.

Using liquid soap is a better option than bar soap as the latter could be a source of infection, pointing out that avoiding towels in rest rooms is vital as these are not frequently changed and could be a source of infection. Opt for disposable tissue to dry hands after using the toilet.

Shaking hands is are also another source of spread of germs, especially after toilet use, so be sure to wash hands frequently after several handshakes or touching surfaces in public areas used by big numbers of people.

Habit of placing bags or phones on the toilet floors as these are ridden with germs. Not flushing sanitary pads down the toilet, but rather placing them in the bins provided is as well vital.

Whether you run a care home, day care centre, or another social care facility it’s essential that you understand the importance of keeping toilets clean.

What is the impact of unhygienic toilets?

A recent YouGov survey of over 2000 people found that dirty and unsanitary bathrooms put people off of returning to the same place again, which means that if your facility's bathrooms aren’t kept clean, you might lose customers as a result. There’s also a chance that your care facility will get a poor rating during a Care Quality Commission check if the bathroom facilities are found to be unclean and unsafe as a result.

What this survey also found was that when coming across a dirty bathroom, 85% of people warn their friends and family about the poor condition of the facilities, with 76% of those people put off by what they are told. This is a worrying statistic because all it takes is one bad review of your care facility and you could be at risk of losing a large amount of potential customers. You may even lose some of your current customers if the families of your residents hear about the poor conditions and decide to move them to another facility.

What this new research revealed is that British people are ‘sticklers’ for bathroom hygiene, with many people taking extra precautions to avoid coming in contact with germs. When toilet facilities lack hygiene, 24% of people choose to lay toilet paper on seats, 29% choose to squat above the toilet, and 21% opt to use elbows or paper towels to open doors.

What are the biggest concerns regarding toilet cleanliness? Cleanliness itself is an issue for 90% of people, while a lack of toilet paper is a problem for 89%, and a lack of soap puts 70% of people off of returning to a toilet again, bad smells put 63% of people off of returning to the same bathroom again.

If a facility, such as a car facility lacks hygienic toilets, 97% of people would be put off of returning there again, with 85% of people choosing to warn friends and family about the problem. The survey also revealed that over three-quarters of people would be put off of visiting somewhere if a friend or family member told them that the toilets were dirty or unclean.

This study also showed that most people would rather not keep these kinds of problems to themselves and 60% said that they would bring the issue up with staff directly, while a quarter would make a complaint via social media.

What can care sector facilities do to ensure that their bathrooms remain hygienic?

Set a regular cleaning rota and perform checks

One of the most important things that care facilities can do to ensure that their bathrooms for visitor use are kept clean is to establish a regular cleaning schedule and perform checks between cleans. It’s also important that the cleaning processes in place allow cleaners to give each bathroom a deep clean, ensuring that all dirt and odour is removed at each cleaning session. A step by step cleaning plan for cleaners to follow combined with having access to all of the best cleaning materials and tools is essential. Providing adequate staff training is also important, to ensure that cleaning is performed to a high-quality and bathrooms are left in a hygienic state.

Provide hygienic tools for users

For many people, having access to hygienic tools makes the use of public bathrooms more enjoyable. When a bathroom feels like a hygienic space, it makes using it a less stressful experience. To ensure that your bathrooms are as hygienic as possible for your users, it’s a good idea to consider incorporating tools for hygiene, such as flushable toilet seat covers and antibacterial toilet wipes to remove germs from the toilet seat and flush before use.

Ensure antibacterial soap is available

Another essential step to take is to make sure that not only every bathroom is always stocked up with soap, but also that the soap being used is antibacterial and kills 99.9% of germs with each use. Bathroom users don’t want to use soap that doesn’t kill germs, so ensuring that there is an effective antibacterial soap in place is crucial.

Offer an alternative to hand dryers

A large percentage of people aren’t comfortable using hand dryers because they believe that they create more germs due to the warm air and spread them around. So it’s important that as well as offering hand dryers, your bathrooms also offer reusable paper towels as an alternative method of hand drying.

Combat bad odours

Bad odours can put people off of using a bathroom, which is why it’s important that as part of your bathroom hygiene practices that you combat bad odours. Using quality cleaning products can help to do this, which is why it’s important that you are selective about the cleaning products that you use.

At CLH, we have a wide range of commercial cleaning products that are designed to perfectly fit the needs of care environments, so it might be worth taking the time to have a look at our wide range of cleaning products.

In addition to using quality cleaning products, you might also want to consider adding air fresheners to your bathrooms, to help ensure that bad odours don’t linger. You can choose from a wide range of air fresheners, from free-standing designs to air fresheners that plugin or diffuse automatically at certain set times. Don’t choose overly scented air fresheners, as these simply mask the odour, look for air fresheners that actually disperse bad odours, instead of simply masking them.

There you have it, a guide to why clean toilets are important for your care environment and why it’s essential that you take bathroom hygiene seriously.

Source from : IAU, J., 2020. Coronavirus: 5 Good Personal Hygiene Practices To Keep The Virus At Bay. [online] The Straits Times. Available at: <https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/coronavirus-5-good-personal-hygiene-practices-to-keep-the-virus-at-bay> [Accessed 15 July 2020].
Source of image : Johns Hopkins Medicine

SINGAPORE - A new multi-agency task force has been formed to raise the standards of cleanliness and public hygiene in Singapore, the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources said on Friday (March 6).

The SG Clean Taskforce aims to ensure the cleanliness of public spaces, encourage good personal hygiene and adjust social norms to reduce the spread of diseases.

Here are five personal hygiene habits that the task force recommended on Friday:

1. USE TISSUE PAPER WHENEVER SNEEZING OR COUGHING AND DISPOSE OF IT PROPERLY

After using tissue paper to sneeze, cough or blow your nose, wrap it with another piece of clean tissue paper and throw them away in a dustbin. In hawker centres, do not leave soiled tissue paper on the table for cleaners to pick up.

2. USE SERVING SPOONS WHEN HAVING GROUP MEALS

The virus has spread in two clusters through group meals. It is best not to share food. If group meals cannot be avoided, using serving spoons can prevent germs spreading from one person to another.

3. EAT ON TRAYS

This will prevent food from spilling or dripping from plates and bowls onto the tables, and cleaners having to pick them up, potentially spreading diseases.

4. KEEP PUBLIC TOILETS CLEAN AND DRY

This will reduce the spread of diseases and viruses such as Covid-19 and dengue within the community.

5. WASH HANDS WITH SOAP REGULARLY AND TAKE TEMPERATURE DAILY

People not washing their hands after going to the toilet, rather than undercooked meat, is behind the spread of a key strain of E. coli.

Experts looked at thousands of blood, faecal and food samples.

They found human-to-human transmission was responsible - ''faecal particles from one person reaching the mouth of another''.

Public Health England said hand-washing and good hygiene were key to preventing the spread of infections.

There are many different strains of E. coli. Most are harmless but some can cause serious illness.

Antibiotic-resistant E. coli is increasingly common. Strains which have 'Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBLs) - enzymes that destroy penicillin and another antibiotic, cephalosporin - are causing particular concern.

E. coli is the most common cause of blood poisoning, accounting for about one third of cases in the UK, with ESBL strains accounting for around 10% of those - around 5,000 a year

'Little crossover'

In the study, published in Lancet: Infectious Diseases, the team analysed 20,000 human faecal samples and 300 blood samples plus hundreds of sewage samples, animal slurry and meats including beef, pork and chicken - as well fruit and salad.

One strain - ST131 - was seen in the majority of human samples from all three sources. It is found in the gut but can, usually via urinary tract infections, cause serious infections.

However, the strains found in meat, cattle and animal slurry were mostly different.

Prof David Livermore, from the University of East Anglia's Norwich Medical School, who led the research, said: ''Critically - there's little crossover between strains from humans, chickens and cattle.

''Rather - and unpalatably - the likeliest route of transmission for ESBL-E. coli is directly from human to human, with faecal particles from one person reaching the mouth of another.''

He said maintaining food hygiene was still important - people should handle raw meat carefully, not least because there are other strains of food-poisoning bacteria that come through the food chain.

But he added: ''Here - in the case of ESBL-E. coli - it's much more important to wash your hands after going to the toilet.

''It's particularly important to have good hygiene in care homes, as most of the severe E. coli infections occur among the elderly, and people may need help going to the toilet.''

Prof Neil Woodford, of Public Health England, said: ''In order to tackle antibiotic resistance, we not only need to drive down inappropriate prescribing, but reduce infections in the first place.

''In order to limit serious, antibiotic resistant E. coli bloodstream infections, we must focus on thorough hand-washing and good infection control, as well as the effective management of urinary tract infections.''

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