Coronavirus outbreak: How to keep your smartphone, keyboard and mouse clean

People have understandably become paranoid regarding hygiene and cleanliness after the spread of coronavirus. With the majority of our time spent in office, it is pertinent that one maintains office hygiene and keeps their personal space clean.

Phones, laptops, and computers, which are an integral part of our office spaces, breed microbes. This is common knowledge, but the know-how of correctly cleaning it -- not so common.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the COVID-19 spreads through tiny droplets ejected from an infected person's cough or sneeze.

Here are some easy steps to keep your smartphones and office essentials like keyboards, laptops and mouse germ-free.

Cleaning smartphones is a must

1. Before going for the clean, switch the device off

2. Make sure the phone case or any accessory has been removed from the handset

3. Take an easily-available microfiber cloth

4. Anything equally soft would do the work

5. Try to use the cloth on its own, but you may dampen it using a warm water and soap mix to do the cleaning. Avoid using too much water as it may harm the device.

6. Keep any liquid from getting on the ports and buttons.

7. Dry your phone with another cloth.

Not your smartphone, make sure your office keyboard and mouse are sanitized as well.

Cleaning office keyboards or laptop

1. Begin by switching off the computer and unplugging all connections.

2. In case of a laptop, turn it off and unplug the charging cord. Remove the battery, if that is possible.

3. Pat the back to make sure all the dust falls off.

4. Use any disinfectant wipe to clean the surface of the keys of the keyboard.

5. Now there are two ways to go for in-between the keys: dry and sticky.

· Dry: You can blow compressed air in between the keys to eject the dust.

· Sticky: Use cleaning grime or clear tape to suck out any piece of hair or similar dirt.

Cleaning office mouse or laptop touchpad

1. The mouse also has to be thoroughly cleaned. Start with unplugging it and removing the batteries.

2. Spinning the scroll wheel will get the small particles out of the device. Patting by turning the mouse upside down will also work.

3. Using disinfectant wipes, clean the mouse top. The same goes for the laptop touchpads.

4. Make sure the wipes aren't too damp. Dry the device properly.