Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has caused an alarming health situation all around the world.As I went diving last week and was renting diving equipment, I wondered how to keep safe and avoid transmission, especially when using a regulator or mask that are in close contact with my face. Read on to find on the protective measures you can take to fight this virus when going diving. I also went back into my photo library to find some scary looking pictures to add to this article 🙂
Content of this article:
Protective measure against Coronavirus while diving
Alert Network (DAN) has issued some protective bits of advice for all the divers all around the world to keep them safe against COVID-19, and you can find a summary below.
The rental equipment used in diving, snorkeling, and other water sports are highly susceptible to carry the virus and may speed up the process of dissemination of the virus. There should be complete sanitization of rental gears and regulators before using it.
Following are some of the protective measures, divers should adopt for their safety against COVID-19:
Personal Safety and Hygiene:
- Regularly wash your hands
- Wash your hands with a hand sanitizer containing 60% alcohol
- Keep washing your hands for at least 20 seconds
- Keep a 6 ft. distance from other individuals and avoid physical contact
- Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth with your hands (even if you just washed them)
Equipment Safety and Cleaning:
You must sterilize/clean the rental equipment used by the divers. As you do not know what germs it might be carrying and whether its prior user may or may not be a COVID-19 suspect.
Following are the diving equipment which should have 100% sanitization:
- Scuba Regulator Mouthpiece
- Snorkel
- BCD Oral Inflator
- Diving Mask
- Dive Gloves
Sanitizing all the above-mentioned diving equipment is of paramount importance for the prevention of COVID-19.
How to Sanitize Your Diving Equipment?
Commonly used products for the cleaning of diving equipment are not much effective against COVID-19. Due to this inconvenience, you must sterilize them using other methods to ensure your safety.
- Household Cleaners:
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has stated that house cleaners are effective and right to use against COVID-19. In a solution of a 1% aqueous solution of bleach (sodium hypochlorite), dip the equipment for at least 15 minutes. Keep in mind that you need to soak the equipment entirely in the solution. Rinse it with clean water, and you are good to use it now.
You can also use any other cleaning product such as Steramine tablets or ammonium-based products.
- Scrub the equipment:
Common antibacterial used for cleaning diving gears is not strong enough against COVID-19. So, when you wash them with these cleaning agents, try to scrub and brush them with a toothbrush or any other available brush.
- Use Disinfecting Wipes:
After washing the dive gears, wipe them with disinfecting wipes. In this way, all the rental gears are good to use now. And you will be sure of its safety.
If you are in a country where you can still go diving, don’t forget to follow those precautions and stay safe.
Happy diving!
