One of the top recommendations for limiting the spread of viruses and other germs is through social distancing. The CDC says that the coronavirus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person through close contact with another person (within about 6 feet) through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. 1
Self-service kiosks can help facilitate minimizing or eliminating close contact with others while still providing necessary information and services.
In fact, most interactions between customers or visitors and staff can be handled by kiosks with the use of appropriate software and equipment. Activities such as credit card payments, scanning of documents, visitor and patient registration are all examples of services that can be handled by self-service kiosks.
Screening of all individuals entering your facility through a health screening kiosk can minimize risk to employees and visitors.
While transmission of coronavirus from surfaces contaminated with the virus to a person has not been documented to date, current evidence suggests that coronavirus may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials. 2 As such, there are specific steps that can be taken to protect people from the transmission of viruses, even on kiosks.
What you can do:
- Regular cleaning & disinfecting of surfaces by staff. This should include any surface regularly touched by visitors, including all kiosk screens and enclosure surfaces, peripherals like keyboards, and door handles.
- Provide visitors with hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
- Equip kiosks with anti-bacterial wipes for visitors to use before and after touching a screen. Disposable gloves can also be provided.
Per CDC guidelines, alcohol solutions with at least 70% alcohol and most common EPA-registered household disinfectants should be effective for disinfection. 3
Kiosk Group's kiosk enclosures are made from solid materials with non-porous finishes, making them easy to disinfect and sanitize. We’ve also added new options for providing sanitizer wipes and a bin for easily disposing of used wipes. More details are available here.
Looking at tablet manufacturers' recommendations, all appear to agree that any liquid disinfectant should be applied to a microfiber cloth or wipe, then applied to the tablet (instead of being applied directly by pouring or spraying).
Specific recommendations to help prevent the spread of coronavirus are as follows:
Apple
For iPads, Apple currently recommends using a 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. They recommend against using bleach-based disinfectants. More details here.
Microsoft
For Surface tablets, Microsoft recommends using pre-moistened disinfectant wipes or applying an isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solution that's 70% or less to a soft, lint-free cloth to clean the device. More details here.
Samsung
Samsung currently recommends using a hypochlorous acid-based solution (containing 50-80ppm) or an alcohol-based solution (containing more than 70% ethanol or isopropyl alcohol). More details here.
Elo
For its touchscreen products, Elo currently recommends using a diluted household bleach solution (1/3 cup of bleach per gallon of water) or isopropyl alcohol (≤ 70% alcohol). More details here.
Read a COVID-19 update from our President/CEO.
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