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NYCHA Now
Disinfecting buildings
April 2020 COVID-19 

High-Tech Sanitizing in High-Touch Areas

Michael Corwin

NYCHA Disinfects Its Buildings to Help Stop the Spread of COVID-19

As part of its efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19, NYCHA has partnered with vendors to sanitize all of its buildings, focusing on high-touch, high-traffic areas such as lobby and common area doors; mailboxes; stairway doors, handles, and handrails; elevator panels; trash chute doors; and other common areas. High-touch areas in property management offices are also being sanitized.

At NYCHA’s 69 buildings for seniors, United EastCo, a federally approved contractor, is disinfecting high-touch areas five times a week using a hospital-grade, EPA-registered disinfectant called SmartTouch.

At the rest of the Authority’s buildings, Alliance Maintenance, a leading provider of cleaning and maintenance services in the New York area, is disinfecting high-touch areas three times a week with either of these EPA-registered products: Conqueror disinfectant or Orbio Multi-Micro 200 disinfectant cleaner.

Click here for the sanitizing schedule by development.

At all of NYCHA’s approximately 2,200 buildings, United EastCo is also applying an EPA-registered, antimicrobial surface protectant called BIOPROTECT RTU to high-touch surfaces every 30 days, after sanitizing these areas with SmartTouch. BIOPROTECT RTU (a patented, water-based product) bonds to surfaces, creating a protective layer against mold, mildew, and odor-causing bacteria.

To learn more about NYCHA’s work to help keep its community healthy and safe, stay tuned to NYCHA’s website (www.nyc.gov/nycha) and The NYCHA Journal (www.nychajournal.nyc).

And please in mind keep this guidance for staying healthy from the NYC Health Department:

  • Maintain at least 6 feet of social distance
  • Wash hands often
  • Cover coughs and sneezes
  • Don’t touch your face with unwashed hands
  • Stay home unless you are an essential worker or need urgent health care
  • Cover your face whenever you leave home
United EastCo:
Sanitizing high-touch areas at seniors-only buildings 5 times/week with SmartTouch.
*SmartTouch (EPA Registration # 82972-1-88566) is a hospital-grade disinfectant.
*It has 99.999% efficacy at eliminating bacteria and viruses such as E. coli, H1N1, Swine Flu, and Salmonella.
 
Applying BIOPROTECT RTU surface protectant (EPA Registration # 87583-3) to high-touch areas at all 2,200 NYCHA buildings every 30 days, after sanitizing these areas with SmartTouch.
*BIOPROTECT RTU is a patented, water-based antimicrobial that bonds to a surface, creating a protective layer against mold, mildew, and odor-causing bacteria.
Alliance Maintenance:
Disinfecting high-touch areas at non-senior buildings 3 times/week with either of these products:
*Conqueror (EPA Registration # 10324-85-32970), a ready-to-use dual quaternary, non-acid disinfectant that effectively kills Human Coronavirus, Hepatitis, e. Coli, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Influenza, and other transmitted viruses. This product is used in health care facilities, schools, food service areas, restrooms, and other public areas.  
*Orbio Multi-Micro 200 (EPA Registration # 90643-1), a one-step cleaner disinfectant that is effective against a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
For additional information on registered disinfectants that meet the EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, please visit https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2.

Per the EPA’s instructions: “The easiest way to find a product on this list is to enter the first two sets of its EPA registration number into the website’s search bar. For example, if EPA Reg. No. 12345-12 is on List N, you can buy EPA Reg. No. 12345-12-2567 and know you’re getting an equivalent product. You can find this number by looking for the EPA Reg. No. on the product label.” The EPA further advises: “If you can’t find a product on this list to use against SARS-CoV-2, look at a different product’s label to confirm it has an EPA registration number and that Human Coronavirus is listed as a target pathogen.” 

The registration numbers associated with SmartTouch, Conqueror, and Orbio Multi-Micro 200 appear on the EPA’s List N, meaning that they meet the criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.  BioProtect does not, but it is used in conjunction with SmartTouch, which is a disinfectant.