Ottery COVID-19 Disinfection

Ottery is half residential, half working area, with factories and workshops along Ottery Road and family homes in the streets around them. Rodents from the industrial side and ants from sandy gardens keep us busy here.

Hygiene & disinfection in Ottery: what we see

Factory canteens, crèches and church halls make up most of our disinfection work in Ottery. For rentals, a sanitise between tenants is a sensible habit.

Ottery is on flat Cape Flats sand that warms quickly in summer and drains well, though low spots pool after heavy winter rain. The vleis and wetlands toward Grassy Park are not far away. Open land and stormwater channels around the edges offer rodent cover.

Homes are mostly freestanding brick houses with tiled or iron roofs and small gardens, plus townhouses and a few flats. The industrial strip has warehouses, workshops and storage yards with roller doors and open bin areas. Rodents move between yards and homes, especially where properties back onto industrial land. Backyard rooms and garages are common hiding places.

Something most people miss

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.

How to tell you have a problem

1. A client, landlord or head office has asked for proof that the premises were disinfected.
2. A staff member, resident or regular visitor has tested positive or gone home sick with flu-like symptoms.
3. Several people in the same office or household have fallen ill within a few days of each other.
4. Vulnerable people, such as the elderly or anyone on chemotherapy, live or work in the building.
5. Normal cleaning has been done, but nobody has wiped door handles, light switches and lift buttons properly.

How the treatment works

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

• 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.
• Place hand sanitiser at entrances, the kitchen and the till, and keep it topped up.
• Put a daily wipe-down of handles, switches and shared phones on someone's task list, not just the cleaner's.
• Open windows where you can. Cape Town's south-easter is good for something, and moving air dilutes airborne virus.

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.

A household with one sick person can do a decent job with gloves, a disinfectant and some discipline about door handles and the bathroom. For an office, a shop or a care facility, I would get it done professionally, partly for the thoroughness and partly because you get a written record that it was done properly.

Questions we get asked in Ottery

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