Touchscreens and Covid-19 - like supermarket self-checkouts

You can look… and you can touch

If you’ve used the self-checkouts at the supermarket recently, you already know that touchscreens (like our Touchscreen Plant Finder) are still fine for people to use.

Like anything else that people touch regularly, such as door handles, they benefit from an occasional wipe/spray with something appropriate.

But the worst fear from the early, unknown period of Covid-19, that it might spread widely just through touching surfaces, has gone. People do wash their hands on returning home; infections are overwhelmingly trackable to close, one-on-one conversations, or (especially for “super-spreader” events) to spending long periods talking (or otherwise “expressing”) in shared, indoor, badly-ventilated areas.

If you have a Touchscreen Plant Finder, we have the same advice as in other such retail places:

– Make hand sanitiser readily available, and put up a sign inviting customers to sanitise their hands

– Clean the unit every morning before switching it on, then every 1-4 hours, depending on usage.

How to clean & disinfect a touchscreen

Before cleaning, switch off at the power socket. Wear disposable gloves while cleaning the touchscreen and dispose of gloves safely afterwards. Use gentle wiping motions on the screen. Don’t press on the screen with any extra force.

1. Clean with a soft cloth or antibacterial wetwipe to remove dirt, grease, dust & other contaminants

2. Then disinfect with a soft cloth damp with diluted bleach (diluted to 0.5%), or with isopropyl alcohol (60-70%)

Let the screen air-dry before turning it on.

Don’t use abrasive cleaners, jet/steam cleaning or other cleaning fluids.

For further details about Joy of Plants, please call 07717 532323, visit www.joyofplants.com, follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JoyofPlants or on LinkedIn via www.linkedin.com/company/joy-of-plants.