MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – When the pandemic started, the disinfectant wipes and household cleaners quickly ran out in stores.
But now experts say the risk of catching COVID-19 from surfaces is low.
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Suppose your keys are infected with COVID. It is possible to catch the virus by touching it to your face, but officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say it is rare.
WCCO spoke with Dr Frank Rhame, an infectious disease specialist at Abbott Northwestern, who is part of Allina Health.
“It is gradually becoming clearer and clearer that droplets in the air make up most of the broadcasts,” Rhame said.
For perspective, the CDC says that studies make less than one in 10,000 infected every time you touch an infected surface. Therefore, it is now said that cleaning surfaces with high contact once a day with ordinary soap or detergent should be enough.
(Credit: CBS)
“Looking at the lead now does not mean that surfaces make a difference,” Rhame said. “It says they are not that important, and that standard soap and water once a day are good enough for most surfaces.”
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Do you remember some of our groceries sweeping? Maybe you still are – but should you?
“I would not normally do that,” Rhame said.
Whether it’s your groceries or something else in your home, according to the CDC, disinfection is probably not necessary unless there is a suspected or known exposure or case. It actually warns against using hard surface disinfectants, such as bleach, on plastic or cardboard packaging.
“There hasn’t been a touch of those things for a while by someone who probably has COVID,” Rhame said.
But COVID precautions help curb other things, like flu. Doctors do not know if it is the removal, hand washing, masking or disinfection that helps the most – but our efforts are to protect against more than just COVID-19.
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The CDC says the most reliable way to prevent contamination of surfaces is to wash your hands regularly or use a hand cleaner. And you may want to clean or disinfect more if someone in your home is at high risk.