CDC Relaxes Cleaning Guidelines

This news is likely unsurprising to most, but the CDC has relaxed its rules on cleaning to combat Covid because it turns out that harsh chemicals are bad for people. I know. Big sigh.

On Monday, the CDC released new guidance because of the health risks associated with the over cleaning they previously told us was necessary. To summarize – Soap and water clean surfaces just fine, the virus is rarely transmitted from surfaces to people, applying disinfectant simply spreads the germs around if you don’t clean with soap and water first, calls to poison control have been extremely high during the pandemic, and disinfectants can do more harm than good for human health.

I’m not saying you should stop cleaning your home, office, classroom, whatever, but you can stop fumigating yourself in hopes of making a difference. It turns out you’re simply damaging your health instead of protecting it.

If you’re interested, here’s an article about the dangers of hand sanitizer. It was written pre-Covid. And it’s one of the reason I tell my kids to wash their hands instead of using the convenient like sanitizing stations. Stay safe and be clean, but be smart.