Without any fanfare, the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) has changed its guidelines on the coronavirus and now says the virus
“does not spread easily” from “touching surfaces or objects. Previously, the
CDC said “it may be possible” to spread the virus by touching or handling
infected surfaces.
It warns, however, that doesn’t mean that practical and
realistic precautions shouldn’t be taken.
“COVID-19
is a new disease and we are still learning about how it spreads. It may be
possible for COVID-19 to spread in other ways, but these are not thought to be
the main ways the virus spreads,” according to the CDC.
The
CDC did, however, remind citizens that the virus does mainly spread
person-to-person, noting the virus that causes a COVID-19 infection,
SARS-CoV-2, “is spreading very easily and sustainably between people.”
The coronavirus is one tough bug but, like the flu virus,
does not easily spread from infected surfaces. The change in the guidelines is
to be expected given that there has been comparatively little research (just a
few months) on how the coronavirus spreads.
The
change comes after a preliminary study from March suggested that the novel
coronavirus can remain in the air for up to three hours, and live on surfaces such as plastic and stainless steel for up to
three days, prompting many to take to wiping down packages and other
items. However, at the time, the study was yet not peer-reviewed,
and, as
Yahoo notes, did not determine if people could be infected from touching
certain surfaces analyzed.
Dr.
John Whyte, the chief medical officer for the healthcare website WebMD, called
the CDC’s changes an “important step in clarifying how the virus is spread,
especially as we gain new information.”
“It
also may help reduce anxiety and stress. Many people were concerned that by
simply touching an object they may get coronavirus and that’s simply not the
case. Even when a virus may stay on a surface, it doesn’t mean that it’s
actually infectious,” Whyte told Fox News in an email.
Dr. William Schaffner, the medical director of the
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) and professor at the
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine says pretty much the same thing.
“The
virus that causes COVID-19 is thought to spread mainly through close contact
from person-to-person (within about 6 feet). Person-to-person contact is a
highway. Touching infected surfaces are little paths, but they don’t carry the
big viral traffic,” he told Fox News in an email. “To reduce the spread of
COVID-19, the safest thing is to continue social distancing, wear masks, and
wash hands frequently and thoroughly.”
Washing your hands is a good idea whether there’s a
pandemic or not. For seniors who are ill like me, a mask will be required until
a vaccine is found.
But wearing one in a crowded space should be a courtesy,
not a requirement. I think we’ll find as we get closer to “normal,” that the
hysteria over COVID-19 will begin to diminish and people will once again
congregate as they did before.
