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Posted: 2020-03-09T23:57:41Z | Updated: 2020-03-10T00:00:40Z

Its highly likely weve all never had cleaner hands . But the same cant be said of the devices we insist on touching immediately after washing off all those potentially dodgy germs.

Theres lots of advice out there about hand-washing at all opportunities to deter Covid-19 in case youve been out of signal, you need to do it for 20 seconds or while singing Happy Birthday, twice (other songs work, too ). But what should we be doing with our phones, tablets, kindles and work devices? And when was the last time you cleaned your work computer, laptop, keyboard or mouse?

A recent study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection , which analysed 22 studies, suggested that coronaviruses can persist on surfaces for up to nine days. And with a previous study finding our phones carry 10 times more bacteria than a toilet seat (grim), its time to clean our devices, too.

As Professor William Keevil, from the University of Southampton, explained to the Telegraph : You could be washing your hands, but if you start touching your smartphone screen and then touch your face, that is a potential route of infection.

Official advice from Public Health England (PHE), which is leading the charge on all things hygiene and coronavirus-related in the UK, is that we should be cleaning and disinfecting regularly touched objects and surfaces using regular cleaning products. Although PHE hasnt specified how often we should be doing so, its been suggested by academics that people should do this twice a day.