CDC: Coronavirus mainly spreads through person-to-person contact and 'does not spread easily' on contaminated surfaces

[Lexy]

Even before COVID-19 officially had a name, public health officials said the virus could be transmitted through infected respiratory droplets and by touching infected surfaces and then touching your nose, mouth, and possibly your eyes. So, people began snatching up face masks, wearing gloves, and ramping up hand hygiene to try to protect themselves.

While touching infected surfaces has always been part of the messaging on how the virus spreads, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently shifted its stance online. The CDC now says that COVID-19 spreads from person to person contact, and then lists touching infected surfaces under a section titled, "The virus does not spread easily in other ways." The CDC adds: “This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about this virus.” The language is a subtle change from the organization’s warning in early March, when it wrote simply that it “may be possible” to spread the virus through contaminated surfaces.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/cdc-cor ... 17029.html

[Mommamia]

People went crazy wiping down everything they could come in contact with based on this:

"Concerns about contracting the virus from infected surfaces mostly stemmed from a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in mid-March. That study found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can last on a variety of surfaces for anywhere from four hours (copper) to three days (plastic and stainless steel). What the study didn’t find was whether people could actually become infected from touching those surfaces. But, since the study’s release, people have been nervous about handling mail, groceries, and other high-touch surfaces like doorknobs."

We had the Surgeon General of the US on TV telling people he wipes down all of his groceries, which gave me a chuckle at the time. Some of one of my daughter's friends left their groceries (except perishables) in their garages for days till the virus would go away. People all over left their pkgs from Amazon, Walmart, wherever sit in their garages for days. More hysteria based on non-science.

This is just one example of why I don't put much faith in 'studies' of any kind.

[highlandmum]

I remember reading this story a few weeks ago.

Has wiping down your groceries and take-out food become part of your coronavirus survival kit?

It might be time to reconsider, experts say, especially if that extra effort is adding to your daily stress. Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is re-emphasizing there's no real risk of getting the virus that causes Covid-19 that way.

"We want to assure you there is currently NO evidence of human or animal food or food packaging being associated with transmission of the #COVID19," the agency tweeted recently.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavir ... -1.4916385

I have never been one to wipe things down or leave them for days in my garage. I just will wash my hands and counter after I put the groceries away like I always have.

[Della]

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... reads.html

[MonarchMom]

I don't think wiping things down is "hysteria" - just an abundance of caution. When a disease is new we don't know everything about it, and it is better to take extra measures to prevent spread then to not use enough prevention. Wiping things down, or just leaving items sit for a few days harms nothing and is a minor effort.

[Mommamia]

I remember reading this story a few weeks ago.

Has wiping down your groceries and take-out food become part of your coronavirus survival kit?

It might be time to reconsider, experts say, especially if that extra effort is adding to your daily stress. Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is re-emphasizing there's no real risk of getting the virus that causes Covid-19 that way.

"We want to assure you there is currently NO evidence of human or animal food or food packaging being associated with transmission of the #COVID19," the agency tweeted recently.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavir ... -1.4916385

I have never been one to wipe things down or leave them for days in my garage. I just will wash my hands and counter after I put the groceries away like I always have.

That's pretty much what I do. For as long as I can remember, when I come home from a store, dr office, the post office, whatever, the first thing I do when I go inside is to immediately wash my hands. It's always just kind of creeped me out to think that I could bring home some germs and deposit them somewhere in my home.

[lauren08]

I don't think wiping things down is "hysteria" - just an abundance of caution. When a disease is new we don't know everything about it, and it is better to take extra measures to prevent spread then to not use enough prevention. Wiping things down, or just leaving items sit for a few days harms nothing and is a minor effort.

I agree.

I kind of figured from the beginning though that you are much more likely to contract it from coming into contact with someone who is infected rather than through a surface.

[Deleted User 203]

Since now I am so accustomed to doing things like wiping down stuff from the stores we've gone to, our pharmacist, to even things we've been ordering online, despite the new CDC ruling, I am still going to keep wiping these things down.

It's a robotic thing for me now.

[Mommamia]

Since now I am so accustomed to doing things like wiping down stuff from the stores we've gone to, our pharmacist, to even things we've been ordering online, despite the new CDC ruling, I am still going to keep wiping these things down.

It's a robotic thing for me now.

If that's what you're comfortable doing, then you should continue doing it.

[Deleted User 203]

Since now I am so accustomed to doing things like wiping down stuff from the stores we've gone to, our pharmacist, to even things we've been ordering online, despite the new CDC ruling, I am still going to keep wiping these things down.

It's a robotic thing for me now.

If that's what you're comfortable doing, then you should continue doing it.

It is a comfort for me/us.

Plus, our youngest Dd is our family's Covid Czar (think...dictator lol ) and would nag us endlessly if we opted not to do this at this time.