HUD COVID-19 Cleaning and Disinfecting Webinar

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Bobbie Guidry

The U.S. Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) this week delivered presentations on their interim guidance on facility cleaning and disinfecting for COVID-19.  

The guidelines are focused on common areas in multifamily housing settings and are meant for the property managers and maintenance staff who service buildings where the COVID‐19 disease may be present. The information is helpful to any housing setting.

To limit the spread of the virus, HUD and the CDC recommended these two strategies:

• Distancing - continuing to keep people six feet apart and to utilize face coverings where appropriate; personnel on the webinar also encouraged visitors in multifamily housing to wear masks.
• Disinfecting - not just cleaning (removing germs), but disinfecting (killing germs) using both efficient and effective disinfection protocols. Efficient disinfection means addressing frequently-touched surfaces, like doorknobs and light switches, more often as opposed to disinfecting everything, including floors and walls, less frequently. Effective disinfection means following product labels for application times, dilution proportions, and handling safety.

The webinar included several handouts; for more information on cleaning and disinfection, visit the CDC webpage on cleaning protocols for reopening. A recording of the webinar will be available soon.