Its been worrying to see the arrival of the new omicron variant of Covid 19 there have been warnings of
“chaos” in schools, with children set to be forced into self-isolation by the new rules. Our experience of working with Schools means we can help them combat the omicron variant of Covid19.

In an attempt to prevent the spread of the omicron strain of Covid-19, close contacts of those who test positive for omicron will have to self-isolate for 10 days, with the Government confirming that this applies to children.

This adds to what has been a very tough 18 months for Education and hopefully closing schools is the last possible option in the fight against the new Omicron variant of coronavirus, the Education Secretary has said.

The government has said they do not support the return of “bubbles” in schools – where whole classes or year groups could be sent home after a positive Covid-19 test – as it reduces attendance “significantly”.

The last 18 months has undoubtedly been a challenging year for all of us. Our clients in the education sector have been struggling to keep their heads above water.

Budgets have been tight for many in the education sector for a number of years; the pandemic has only increased pressures for Schools and Colleges in the Cheshire and North Wales area as they have needed to carry COVID 19 Fogging decontamination.

Many of our education clients have had to bring in stricter school cleaning regimes. Where previously cleaning was done in the evening for a few hours with part-time cleaners, COVID 19 decontamination cleaning for schools in the Cheshire and North Wales area has been needed throughout the day. This means using full-time cleaners and has put even more pressure on school budgets.

When the first lockdown hit at Nirvana, we were fortunate that 98% of our clients were operating essential services and so we were not forced to close or restrict our operations. Although our schools were only open for the children of key workers, they still needed our help with further deep cleaning.

I do appreciate how lucky we were and that we did not have to close or furlough our team members. I have felt desperately sorry for all my fellow small business owners who through no fault of their own had to stop or curtail their business activities. I can’t even imagine how stressful that must have been.

As the omicron strain of Covid-19 spreads in our communities, we will be working hard to keep everyone as safe as possible. World Health Organisation ( WHO ) guidelines suggest that all commercial, educational and communal premises need ‘COVID fogging decontamination’. We have invested in all the latest fogging equipment to help keep our client’s premises safe and give parents pupils and staff peace of mind. It also means we can offer a highly cost-effective package so that cleaning budgets go further. That’s important as going forward even with an effective vaccine I expect that COVID will be with us for a long time to come.

Commercial Covid Safety Expertise

The ‘fogging’ process involves a disinfectant solution using Byotrol, and a QUAT-free Surface Sanitiser. Thus has been proven to kill 99.99% of pathogens including viruses, bacteria and yeast spores. This is put into what we call a ULV fogger (Ultra Low Volume). The fogger is powered by electricity and anatomises the microbial solution causing a fine mist to be created. This fills the room and disinfects and covers every surface. Whilst our cleaners work behind the fogger wiping all the surfaces down. Once all the surfaces are dried, we then test by using swabs and an ATP monitor. The process of ATP testing is very straightforward and easy to use and provides a rapid indicator of hygiene levels that would otherwise require lab testing. We swab the area which has just been cleaned. Place the swab inside the illuminometer and record the results. Results below 10 are acceptable and show the site has been sanitised well.

The latest PPE is worn by our team members, including white suits, A1P2 aspirator masks and goggles. The solutions we use are powerful, and a mask needs to be worn at all times.COVID ‘fogging’ decontamination is now a central part of our school cleaning contract work.

We have also been asked to help our school clients with COVID outbreaks. In one of our Schools, we recently had an outbreak. Fortunately, we had both our Cleaning team and onsite Caretaker onsite to organise an immediate deep clean. We also trained the school staff, so they are equipped and ready should there be another occurrence of COVID 19.

This dramatically reduces the cost of COVID cleaning to them. Outside contractors can charge up to £23.00 per square metre for ‘fogging’ so our approach means there is a substantial cost saving.

If you’d like a chat on how we can help your School or College with Omnicron COVID fogging and decontamination, please get in touch HERE

Lloyd