Ocean View COVID-19 Disinfection

Ocean View sits on the windy slopes above Kommetjie, a close-knit community where flats and family homes are built fairly tightly together. Wind, fynbos edges and shared buildings decide most of the pest problems we deal with here.

Hygiene & disinfection in Ocean View: what we see

Crèches, churches, clinics and small shops benefit from periodic disinfection. Shared stairwells and refuse rooms in flats are worth including.

The suburb is on exposed ground below Slangkop, with Table Mountain National Park fynbos and the Kommetjie coastline nearby. The wind is strong for much of the year, and winter fronts come straight off the Atlantic. Sandy soils and open veld around the edges harbour rodents and insects.

The housing is a mix of council-built flats, semi-detached and freestanding brick homes, with backyard rooms added on many properties. In the flats, shared stairwells, refuse areas and plumbing give cockroaches and rodents an easy path between units. Backyard structures with gaps at ground level let mice and rats straight in. Older roofs sometimes have loose sheeting where birds and rodents get into the ceiling.

Rats and mice, German cockroaches in flats and fleas are the most common concerns. Flies come up around refuse areas in summer. Scorpions and spiders appear in homes near the veld.

Tell-tale signs

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. A client, landlord or head office has asked for proof that the premises were disinfected.
5. Shared equipment such as till points, keyboards, phones and kitchen counters is used by many hands every day.
6. You are about to reopen a space that was closed because of illness.

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.

A note from the field

When we walk into an office after a positive case, the first thing we look at is the shared kitchen. Kettle, fridge handle, microwave buttons and the tea-towel nobody washes.

Disinfection is not a substitute for ventilation. In a Cape Town winter it is tempting to keep everything closed, but fresh air does a lot of the work for you.

Our process, step by step

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.

Keeping them out afterwards

• Stop sharing headsets, pens and keyboards between shifts where you can avoid it.
• Open windows where you can. Cape Town's south-easter is good for something, and moving air dilutes airborne virus.
• Put a daily wipe-down of handles, switches and shared phones on someone's task list, not just the cleaner's.
• Know who to phone before you need it, so a positive case does not turn into a day of scrambling.
• 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 Ocean View

COVID-19 Disinfection nearby and related