As the novel coronavirus continues to rage around the world with no sign of slowing down anytime soon, reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission in your immediate environment is probably at the front of your brain at all times. What comes to many consumer’s minds is if it’s safe to get a car right now and how, if at all possible, can we reduce the risk of Corona Virus in your new Nissan.
The novel coronavirus that has caused the COVID-19 pandemic spreads through viral particles. These particles are spread most commonly through person-to-person contact in close proximity, which is why social distancing and wearing masks are renowned as some of the most effective ways to combat the spread of the virus.
However, the viral particles that cause COVID-19 can also linger on surfaces. If you touch a surface with viral particles on it and then touch your mouth, nose, or eyes, you are at risk of contracting COVID-19 from those viral particles. That’s why it’s so important to frequently sanitize your hands and regularly disinfect high-traffic surfaces that you touch often.
Cleaning your car is imperative to reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission in your immediate environment. The inside of your car is probably much germier than you think. Even if you rarely leave your house except to go to necessary appointments, do essential shopping, etc., your car is the first thing you touch right after being potentially exposed to the coronavirus at your doctor’s office or at the grocery store.
If you are a Nissan driver and are not sure how to effectively clean and sanitize your vehicle in a way that kills the viral particles that cause COVID-19, keep reading to learn some top tips for how to reduce the risk of coronavirus in your Nissan vehicle.
Sanitize Your Hands
The primary way that viral particles that cause COVID-19 get into your car is via your own hands. If there are viral particles on your hands and you touch the steering wheel when you get into your car, those viral particles spread to the surface of your steering wheel. Then, you can infect yourself with those same particles by touching your steering wheel later on and subsequently touching your face.
Keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in your car at all times. As soon as you get into your car, before you touch anything other than your exterior door handle, use the hand sanitizer on your hands. This habit doesn’t absolve you from washing your hands when you get home or sanitizing the surfaces in your car, but it can help significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 viral particles spreading throughout your vehicle.
Focus on Hard Surfaces
The viral particles that cause COVID-19 can exist on hard surfaces like plastic and metal for up to 3 to 5 days. On soft surfaces like fabric, these particles only survive and remain active for a few hours to a single day.
That means that, when cleaning and sanitizing your vehicle, focus primarily on hard surfaces that you touch frequently. Fortunately, hard surfaces in your vehicle are very easy to disinfect. You can use standard disinfecting wipes to quickly and easily sanitize high-traffic hard surfaces in your vehicle.
You should aim to disinfect high-traffic hard surfaces in your car at least once every day in order to keep the interior of your car clean, sanitized, and COVID-19-free. High-traffic hard surfaces include your steering wheel, gear shift, seat belts, door handles, touchscreen display if applicable, and the buttons and knobs that control your car’s radio, A/C system, etc.
Take Caution with Upholstery
You don’t need to clean and sanitize the upholstery in your vehicle as often as you disinfect high-traffic hard surfaces inside your car, but it is still important to sanitize your car seats at least once every couple of weeks.
When you do clean the upholstery inside your car, take care to only use approved cleaning products to avoid damaging the soft surfaces of your seats. A mixture of mild soap and water works great for cleaning and sanitizing both cloth and leather car seats.
Following these simple tips for cleaning and sanitizing your Nissan vehicle and integrating them into your daily routine can make a big difference in your personal fight to keep COVID-19 far away from yourself and your loved ones.