Infectious disease experts, aerosol scientists and microbiologists answer questions about the risks of coming into contact with the virus while on an essential trip outside.
Should you change clothes and take a shower after coming home from the grocery store?
When you are practicing social distancing and making only occasional trips outside – grocery store or pharmacy, experts agree that its unnecessary to change clothes or take a shower after returning home.
But you should wash your hands. Its true that when an infected person sneezes or coughs, it can propel viral droplets and smaller particles through the air, most of them will drop on the ground.
Research reveals that some small viral particles can float in the air for about half an hour. But, they do not swarm like gnats and are not likely to collide with your clothes.
A droplet that is small and can float in air for a while also is not likely to deposit on your clothes due to aerodynamics, says Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech.
Why small droplets and viral particles don’t typically land on our clothing?
Dr. Marr says, they follow the streamlines, or air flow, around a person because we move relatively slowly. While moving we push air out of the way, and most droplets and particles get pushed out of the way too.
Someone would have to spray large droplets through coughing or sneezing to land on your clothes. The droplets have to be large to not follow the streamlines.
Should you be concerned about the mail, packages or the newspaper?
The risk of falling sick after handling mail or packages is extremely low. There aren’t any documented cases of people getting sick from opening a package or reading a newspaper. But it doesn’t imply that you shouldn’t take precautions.
After you handle packages or mail or read the newspaper, dispose off the packaging and wash your hands.
Could the virus be on your hair or beard?
You should not be worried about viral contamination of your hair or beard if you practice social distancing. If someone sneezes on the back of your head, droplets that land on your hair would be an unlikely source of infection.
How much should you worry about contamination while going outside?
The chances that you will contract the virus while going outdoors is extremely low, when you keep a safe distance from others.
Lidia Morawska, professor and director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia says, any infectious droplets exhaled outside get quickly diluted in outdoor air, so these concentrations quickly become insignificant.
The stability of the virus outside is shorter than inside. Unless you are in a crowded place, outside isn’t really a problem. You can go for a walk or jog and not worry about the virus in the air, and there isn’t a need to immediately wash off the clothes.
Is there a need to worry about doing laundry and sorting clothes? Can you shake viral particles loose from your clothes and send them into the air?
This depends on the fact that are you doing routine laundry or cleaning up after a sick person. Routine laundry isn’t a cause of worry. Wash it as you normally do. Some types of viruses, like the norovirus, can be tough to clean.
But, the new coronavirus, is surrounded by a fatty membrane that is vulnerable to soap. Washing the clothes in regular laundry detergent to follow the fabric instructions, then using a dryer is more than enough to remove the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends to wear gloves when you clean up after someone who is sick. Take care to not shake laundry and bedding.
Make use of the warmest water setting and let it dry completely. It is possible to mix laundry from an ill person with the rest of the load. But if you leave laundry to sit for a while it also reduces risk, because the virus dries out and decays. These types of viruses decay faster on fabric than on hard, solid surfaces, like steel or plastic says Dr. Marr.
How long will the virus remain viable on fabric and other surfaces?
A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the virus can survive, under ideal conditions, upto three days on hard metal surfaces, and plastic and upto 24 hours on cardboard. The absorbent, natural fibers present in the cardboard appear to be causing the virus to dry up more quickly than on hard surfaces.
It’s a popular belief that after returning home from a trip outside, you should remove shoes and wipe them down. Is it true?
Shoes can harbor viruses and bacteria, but it doesn’t imply that they are a common source of infection.
If you have washable shoes, launder them if you wish. Cleaning the soles of the shoes with a wipe isn’t recommended. It simply wastes a good wipe and also brings germs that would stay on the sole of your shoes or on the ground directly to your hands.
You can also have a conversation with your family about becoming a shoe-free household. If you have a child crawling or playing on the floor, or a family member having allergies, or with compromised immune system, a shoe-free home is a great idea for general hygiene.