COVID-19 Disinfection Gordon's Bay

Gordon's Bay is a harbour village tucked into the corner of False Bay, with houses stacked up the mountainside and holiday flats near the beach. Rodents in roofs, gulls on rooftops and ants in summer are what we deal with most.

Gordon's Bay: what drives hygiene & disinfection here

Holiday flats and rentals are sanitised between guests, and restaurants book regular disinfection.

The village sits right at the foot of the mountains, with the GB anchor above town and the sea in front. The South-Easter is famously strong here, sometimes funnelling down the mountain in powerful gusts. Fynbos on the slopes brings scorpions, spiders and rodents close to homes.

Homes are built up the slopes of the Hottentots Holland mountains, many with sea views, split levels and retaining walls. Holiday flats and apartment blocks sit near the beach and harbour, and many homes are holiday properties. Houses on steep plots have sub-floor voids and garages under the house where rodents hide. Restaurants around the harbour bring commercial work.

From the technician

Fogging is not magic smoke. The real work is the manual wipe-down of the things hands touch all day, and the fog then reaches the places a cloth misses.

Signs to look for

1. Normal cleaning has been done, but nobody has wiped door handles, light switches and lift buttons properly.
2. Several people in the same office or household have fallen ill within a few days of each other.
3. A staff member, resident or regular visitor has tested positive or gone home sick with flu-like symptoms.
4. Shared equipment such as till points, keyboards, phones and kitchen counters is used by many hands every day.
5. You are about to reopen a space that was closed because of illness.
6. A client, landlord or head office has asked for proof that the premises were disinfected.

Respiratory viruses spread mainly through the air between people, but contaminated surfaces play a part, particularly in busy shared spaces. For a business the bigger cost is often staff absence: one case that turns into five can empty a small office for a week. There is also a trust issue, because staff and customers want to know something was actually done. Surface disinfection lowers the load on surfaces, but it does not replace ventilation, staying home when sick or medical advice.

What happens when we come out

We start with the boring part that matters most: wiping down high-touch surfaces by hand with a suitable disinfectant, because fogging alone does not scrub a greasy door handle. Then we fog the rooms with a ULV fogger, which puts out a fine mist that settles on surfaces, including the ones nobody thinks to wipe. We choose products that are suitable for the surfaces and the people who will use the space, and we tell you how long to keep the area closed before re-entry. Electronics are covered or wiped rather than soaked. Afterwards you get a short report listing the areas treated and the product used.

Want the full step-by-step? See how our COVID-19 disinfection service works.

Stopping a repeat visit

• Open windows where you can. Cape Town's south-easter is good for something, and moving air dilutes airborne virus.
• Place hand sanitiser at entrances, the kitchen and the till, and keep it topped up.
• Know who to phone before you need it, so a positive case does not turn into a day of scrambling.
• Stop sharing headsets, pens and keyboards between shifts where you can avoid it.
• Keep people at home when they are sick. It does more than any amount of spraying.

How much will it cost?

The cost depends mostly on floor area and how many separate rooms need fogging. Heavy furniture, lots of electronics or food preparation areas take more time because they need careful wiping and covering. After-hours or weekend work and repeat treatments during an ongoing outbreak also affect the quote, which is free.

Our busiest disinfection months are the wet Cape winters, from about May to August, when people are packed indoors with the windows shut and flu and colds spread fast. We still see call-outs in summer, usually after a single case in an office or a care home.

Questions we get asked in Gordon's Bay

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