Scrubbing down the schools

From Communications and Public Affairs:

MPS facilities staff over the weekend washed and disinfected all commonly-touched surfaces in five closed schools.

Those surfaces included door handles, desktops, counters, telephones, lockers and bubblers.”

The Saturday cleaning of Riverside, Clement Avenue, Allen-Field, Mitchell and Rogers Street schools came just days after city health officials closed the sites as a precautionary step in stemming transmission of H1N1, commonly known as swine flu.

“Local health officials told us that our routine level of cleaning and disinfecting would be appropriate,” said Mike Gutierrez, a Facilities Division project manager. “But we took it a step further and used the disinfectant that we use daily to clean restrooms and locker rooms, and applied that to all the surfaces students and staff touch during the day.”

The weekend cleaning was in line with the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control, which called for the cleaning of commonly touched surfaces with “detergent-based cleaners or EPA registered disinfectants that are usually used in the school setting.”

Gutierrez said MPS Facilities personnel took the extra effort because they care about the comfort of students and staff who will return to the buildings once the health commissioner gives the okay. “I had more than enough staff who wanted to do the work today. A lot of our personnel have children in these schools, too. They really do care.”