We still have so much to learn about COVID-19, but we know that it is transmitted through respiratory droplets although some current evidence suggests that COVID-19 may live on surfaces for hours or days so cleaning surfaces and disinfecting them would be the best action to prevent further spread of COVID-19 and even other respiratory viruses in a church. It is best advised to have soap and hand sanitizers available in multiple stations and throughout a church to increase the frequency of hand disinfecting. It is now not recommended to greet each other with hand gestures and if it does occur to practice the correct procedures such as hand washing or using a hand sanitizer again with an emphasis on the hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol-based content. Education is key if large gatherings will take place to take every precaution known to the government agencies to prevent and diminish the spread of COVID-19 in churches. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), starting March 15th, recommends that for the next eight weeks, churches and other organizations cancel or postpone events that consist of 50 people or more. 

It is critical to educate your cleaning team to know the proper cleaning agents that should be used to kill the COVID-19 properly. Please make sure that appropriate standards are in place, and before disinfecting the dirty surfaces, they must be cleaned using a detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection with bleach. Once soap and water are used, diluted bleach solutions can be used; alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol and other most EPA-registered household disinfectants are effective. You can prepare a bleach solution by mixing five tablespoons of bleach with one gallon of water or four teaspoons of bleach per quart of water and never mix bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser.