Apologies in advance for this long post...
After reading all the comments about sanitizing the pianos for university use, I am concerned that we are focusing on the wrong thing. I don't mean to be critical of or blame anyone here for being concerned about disinfecting pianos; these edicts seem to be coming from the university administrators and society at large. This mania and obsession of cleaning and disinfecting surfaces constantly is rampant in our culture, to the detriment of paying attention to what really matters: transmission of the virus through the air for others to breathe. Washing everything constantly and obsessing over it might make us feel better temporarily, but it can also give us a false sense of security and lead to laxness in doing what really matters: staying home if you're ill, wearing a mask in public, washing your hands, not touching your face, and keeping your distance from other people.
Check out any reputable, science-based article by entering "COVID-19 spread by contaminated surfaces" or something similar in your search engine, and you will find many reports acknowledging that it is in theory possible to contract the virus from surfaces, but extremely unlikely if you follow good hygiene rules. Most will say outright that surface contamination is not thought to be of concern in transmission of the virus. The virus degrades fairly quickly outside of an animal host, so although a DNA footprint might be detectable a few hours later, that does not mean it's infectious. Also, and most important, it still has to get into your body. How's it gonna do that if you're conscientious about washing your hands thoroughly and often and not touching your face? Make it a habit, if you haven't already done so, to wash hands frequently, and most certainly after you've been out in public, touching items in the grocery store, for example. On a personal note, today I was at my local hospital for a routine procedure that had already been postponed too long. I mentioned to my nurse this idea of fixating on cleaning surfaces constantly vs. paying attention to aerial transmission, and she confirmed what I'm telling you here. Pay attention to the air rather than the surfaces.
This virus is transmitted through the air when you stand too close to an infected person for more than a minute or two. Please, let's not forget this important point. Masks do help, especially if everyone in a public setting is wearing one. Keeping your distance is also extremely important, as droplets and aerosolized particles generally drop to the ground in a 6 or 7 foot radius. Equally important is that the amount of virus one is exposed to appears to be key in how ill one might become or how fatal the illness is. (This sad fact explains why relatively young, healthy medical workers have died from the virus.) You can breathe in lots more virus in a relatively short time than somehow ingesting lots of viable particles from a surface.
I am not knowledgable about HVAC systems in a typical public building or university, and I suspect very few piano technicians are. Have any of us asked our supervisors or university administrators just what they're doing about the air system? Are there HEPA filters in place and are they replaced frequently enough? Does the HVAC system malfunction frequently? (As was the case at SFSU...) If your workplace can't assure you that they have done their part to control and clean the air supply, all this obsession about cleaning surfaces won't help make us safer. Is your workplace making it easy for people to wash their hands thoroughly and often? How about installing portable wash-up stations outside the building entrances? (Usually can't put them indoors in the hallways because of fire safety/evacuation codes...Apologies in advance to the custodial staff for the extra trouble this would create!) A small local grocery store in my area (yay Tokyo Fish of Berkeley!) has installed a jug of water with a spigot outside the entrance, with liquid soap and paper towels also supplied. I use it every time, as do many other shoppers. This is a gentle but effective reminder on the importance of hand hygiene. Brilliant.
Soap and water, properly employed, are still the best way to stop the transmission from your hands into your body. They beat the snot (literally, tee hee!) out of either alcohol wipes, hydrogen peroxide or any other fancy-schmancy chemical disinfectant. I'm retired now, but If I were commanded to disinfect pianos, soap and water, used carefully and sparingly, would be my first and only choice in cleaning piano surfaces.
I read two comments on this thread that touched on the above issues of air transmission and masks. Ed McMorrow mentioned that singers should not be allowed to practice in the music building. Right on target, as the unfortunate experience of a church choir rehearsal in Washington State in March(?) demonstrated. Many participants became ill, resulting in a few deaths, unfortunately. Or consider the diners at a restaurant in China who were sitting at adjoining tables to an infected person, with a fan or the air system suspected of facilitating the spread of the infection. Mike Reiter mentioned seeing students in the music building who don't wear masks. This is a problem that also needs to be addressed by the university administrators. Here we have an uphill cultural battle on our hands, as Americans don't like to be commanded to do things that are perceived as limiting our freedoms. (Work with us here as we're trying to save your life and mine!) Any mask is better than none, until a reliable supply of N-95 masks are available to the general public. So far America has been slow to learn from other countries and implement proven regimens to contain the spread of the virus until an effective treatment or a vaccine becomes available. These regimens include: strong messaging encouraging hand hygiene, requiring citizens to wear a good mask when in public, keeping your distance, tracing contacts, and isolating infected individuals, typically at hotels which are all but abandoned due to the crash of the tourist industry. Other countries have employed some or all of these techniques with great success in controlling transmission. America lags way behind, due to a failure of imagination to prepare for a pandemic, plus chaotic, unscientific, inconsistent, and contradictory messages issued from our leaders (and one in particular) that do more harm than good.
What's contagious here is the panic and fear that this national obsession with washing everything constantly has caused. I know of someone who has stopped ordering fresh produce to be delivered, even if it needs to be cooked before being consumed. I have other friends who let the mail sit for a day or two and are constantly obsessing about washing every item that comes into the household. To be fair, both of these households are also sheltering in place and being extremely cautious when they do have to go out. I guess they're covering all the possibilities.
One of the more problematic things to control during this pandemic is what to do about public bathrooms. Again, we should be less concerned about surfaces and more worried about the air system in that small enclosed space and also, unfortunately, what happens when you flush the toilet. It has been known for some time that viral and bacterial particles of all varieties get hurled into the air in aerosolized form, especially from the types of toilets that are typically found in public bathrooms. They're pretty violent and enthusiastic in the amount of water thrown about, compared to the average home toilet. Best recommendation now is to have that mask on when in a public bathroom.
I'm weary of this pandemic. You're weary of this pandemic. This has all been one giant cluster#%&*. But please, let's not beat up on the pianos, ruining keytops and lacquer finishes in a misguided attempt to sanitize everything in sight. Let's encourage (or require!) individual responsibility for hand cleanliness, mask wearing, and observing the magical 6 foot zone. The plans to limit access to practice rooms are excellent. And for goodness sake, find out about the HVAC systems and HEPA filters!
With sincere wishes for everyone's good health,
Margie Williams
Richmond CA
San Francisco Chapter