Cleaning up the groceries? Experts say you keep the risk in perspective

Cleaning wipes are harder to find on store shelves, and companies reassure customers with enhanced hygiene measures. In New York, the subway system is closed every night for disinfection.

To avoid any traces of the coronavirus that may be lurking on the surfaces, the Americans have wiped out their groceries, wearing surgical gloves when they go out and leaving mail packages out for an extra day or two. But experts say the national fixation on washing triggered by the pandemic can sometimes be too much.

“It is important to clean surfaces, but not to obsess too much in a way that can be unhealthy,” said Dr. John Brooks, chief medical officer for COVID-19 response at the US Centers for Disease and Control.

Health officials knew less about the virus in the early days of the pandemic, but say it has become clearer that the primary way it spreads is among people: through the respiratory droplets they spray when they speak, cough, sneeze or sing. This is why officials stress the importance of wearing masks and social distancing.

This does not mean that surfaces pose no risk – cleaning is still recommended – especially frequently touched points such as door knobs or elevator buttons that infected people may have recently touched. Other germs that make people sick, such as gastrointestinal insects, haven’t disappeared either.

But with COVID-19, experts say they keep the risk in perspective: the virus is fragile and doesn’t easily survive outside the body for long. The first studies that found that it could stay on surfaces for days used large viral charges and were in laboratory conditions, not in the real world. Other tests may only detect remnants of the virus, rather than live viruses capable of infecting people.

Furthermore, viruses do not jump out of surfaces to infect people and the infection would require a sequence of events: there should be enough virus surviving on whatever the person is touching, the person should put it on their hands, then touch their mouth, nose or eyes. .

All of this means there could be diminishing returns to all disinfection, especially if people have good hand washing practices.

For public health experts, the challenge is to tell people exactly where they should draw the line, especially if cleaning doesn’t hurt.

What counts as excessive could also vary depending on the situation, said Justin Lessler, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University.

While Lessler wouldn’t cancel his spending, for example, he said it might not be a bad idea for people caring for someone at high risk of becoming seriously ill if infected.

“These are things that are perhaps on the lower end of what they actually reduce risk. But they’re relatively easy and cheap,” he said.

And in nursing homes, Lessler said vigilance over surface disinfection makes sense.

While it doesn’t significantly reduce the risk, regularly disinfecting surfaces can be a way for people to exercise control when they feel they don’t have any, said Stephen Morse, an infectious disease researcher at Columbia University.

In public places, he said, stepping up cleaning – what some call “hygiene theater” – can be a way to reassure people.

“People want it to be obvious that they really care,” Morse said.

But Emanuel Goldman, a professor of microbiology at Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, said the reassurance could also create a false sense of security and detract from the measures that matter most.

“They care less about what they breathe. And breathing is your main source of infection,” said Goldman, who wrote a comment in a medical journal in July saying the fear of transmission through surfaces was exaggerated.

“I’m not saying not to do the routine maintenance. I’m not saying not to do the cleaning. But you don’t have to resort to extraordinary measures,” he said.

In some cases, Goldman has noticed that there are significant financial costs.

In New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is spending $ 8.1 million a week on COVID-19 related expenses, including day and night subway cleaning.

The agency says it is approaching security in several ways. And Mark Dowd, the agency’s chief innovation officer, said surfaces could still pose a risk and that understanding of the virus has continued to evolve.

“We don’t think taking your foot off the pedal when it comes to disinfecting our surfaces is the right approach,” he said.

The MTA is also looking for ways to improve ventilation, Dowd said, but it’s much more complicated.

Americans are also clearing store shelves of disinfectant products. After the pandemic, sales increased about 30% in The Clorox Co. business unit which includes cleaning products.

Whether these habits will last remains to be seen.

At the start of the pandemic in March and April, Paige Zuber said she would return home from her corporate catering job in New York and leave the mask in a bag near the door, immediately changing clothes and showering.

“It was like cleaning up the mess to make sure I didn’t bring anything into our apartment,” said Zuber, who has since been fired and moved to Rhode Island.

Zuber is still cleaning a lot more than before the pandemic, but he’s not going to the same extremes.

At the CDC, Brooks said he tells people to do what makes them comfortable, but to keep in mind the relative risk of different transmission routes.

“As long as you don’t touch your face when you unpack those groceries, and then wash your hands and be careful, I think that might be enough,” he said.

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