"Before, we had basic cleaning standards for baggage handling, but sanitation was not a priority," says Jacob Wedderburn-Day, co-founder and CEO of Stasher. "It absolutely will be now."
The storage company uses points such as hotel luggage storage to store luggage: 300,000 bags have been stored in the past 12 months.
Before the coronavirus crisis hit, the company could expect between 500 and 1,500 transactions every day.
But Mr. Wedderburn-Day doesn't see numbers happening at that level until there's a vaccine for Covid-19.
In the meantime, he is considering cleaning ideas that could reassure customers on their return.
It is a problem that many companies will face. Hotels, airlines, shops and restaurants will all want customers to be sure that their premises are as clean as possible.
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"The virus is here to stay," says virologist Byron Martina of the Artemis One Health Research Foundation in the Netherlands.
"Normally, the longer a virus remains in the population, the less aggressive it becomes. However, it could be a process of years," he says.
"A virus is nothing more than the viral chromosome that is protected by a shield from the environment, and in some viruses, such as the coronavirus, the shield is further surrounded by a fatty layer (the membrane)," says Dr. Martina. .
That membrane can be dissolved with old-fashioned cleaners. But customers, concerned about the coronavirus, may wish for an additional level of reassurance.
One option would be to clean the surfaces yourself.
The Danish company ACT.Global sells a transparent coating which can be sprayed on the surfaces and breaks the microbes. It reacts when illuminated and works with normal internal light.
The coats last up to a year, but the effectiveness of this technology is also based on the amount of light available: it is not very good in dark places.
To work, the cladding requires eight hours of light, roughly equivalent to that of a normal family stay.
"Let's face it, the journey will likely increase. And with it the risk that pathogens, once contained geographically, can spread rapidly. To rebound and restore confidence, measures must be taken to protect against the risk of further pathogenic outbreaks," says Christopher Lüscher , Chief Technology Officer at ACT.Global.
Other companies hope that ultraviolet (UV) radiation proves to be an effective way to destroy viruses.
In particular, the shorter wavelength, UVC, shuffles the DNA of organisms, killing them.
The Solaris Lytbot uses the far UVC, an even shorter wavelength that is less harmful to humans and combines it with the UVB and UVA rays that heat, cool and confuse the pathogens.
The more problems pathogens face, the harder it is for them to survive.
The Lytbot works in cycles of three or five minutes, depending on the size of the space, and remains stationary, even if the company is trying to add autonomous navigation. The head moves 360 degrees to the target surfaces.
But cleaning really large spaces, like sports stadiums, is a bigger challenge.
Lucid Drone Technologies has adapted its drones to the disinfectant spray and can cover up to 23,000 square feet (2,140 sq m) per hour.
It's potentially a way to clean sports stadiums and the company claims to be in talks with the NFL teams.
Before the coronavirus epidemic, drones were used for external cleaning of multi-storey buildings, an activity that slowed down.
Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company has built a dozen drones for sanitation and has the ability to build 10 drones per week, says Lucid co-founder and CEO Andrew Ashur.
Six cleaning companies have already signed agreements for the use of drones for sanitation and the first batch will be delivered this month.
Ashur claims that he was asked to use his drones to eliminate dust, clean and maintain windmill turbines and water towers and, oddly enough, vulture repellent.
But professional cleaners are wary of hi-tech methods.
Richard Sticklee's company, Enviropure First Response, cleans up crime scenes and dangerous spills.
He says nothing beats the human touch for professional cleaning. While cleaning drones and high-tech sprays can help with larger spaces, Sticklee says it is essential to have experience, knowledge and training on how to disinfect.
And he points out that soap and hot water are the best way to get rid of the virus.
But for many companies, the blockade has affected sales or has completely wiped them out and this could limit any investment in hi-tech cleaning.
"Profitability is far more important than growth for us in the coming year," says Jacob Wedderburn-Day of Stasher, noting that the company has been "ruthless" in cutting costs.
"When you get hit by a bus running in a marathon, you don't get up and don't worry about winning. Go to the hospital and run again next year," he says.
