Can clothes and shoes track COVID-19 to your home?

Mohamed Ibrahim Bassyouni
2020 / 6 / 15

The new coronavirus is unlikely to be transmitted through clothing, but experts agree that there are some scenarios in which immediate washing is a good idea.

* There were no documented cases of the new coronavirus transmission through clothing and footwear at this point.
* If you care for an individual with´-or-often close to a COVID-19, washing clothes often is an essential part of preventive hygiene.
* This includes, in particular, individuals at high risk, such as health care workers.
* Most household cleaners are sufficient to kill the virus when washing clothes.

Even if you do your best to keep you safe, how can you prevent the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, from entering?

You only go for the basic supplies for groceries. When you go out, you practice safe social exclusion. You wash your hands often and clean "high-contact" surfaces such as door handles and tables when returning home.
However, there is an annoying feeling that although you maintain good hygiene, you are worried about the things that you brought home with you. Is your grocery safe? plastic bags? What about the clothes you wear? Your shoes?

Here s what we know about the new coronavirus transmission through popular clothing.

We don t know much about this virus, and we learn more about it every day. But this is our current understanding: If you are abroad to run in your area´-or-make a quick visit to the grocery store, you are not likely to get COVID-19 through your clothes´-or-shoes. We do not think shoes´-or-clothes are an important source of transmission.
There were no documented cases of the new coronavirus transmission through clothing and shoes at this stage at all.
COVID-19, an influenza-like respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus, is spread by respiratory drops. Coughing and sneezing by an infected person near another person are the most likely means of -dir-ect transmission.
However, we know that the new coronavirus is able to remain outside the human body on different surfaces, which may result in transmission if it is touched.
Depending on the type of surface, experts estimate that the virus can live for only a few hours up to a few days.
While metal and plastic can provide a haven for the virus for up to 2 to 3 days, clothing is not considered a favorable material for its survival. Clothing is generally not thought to be the best virus incubator.
Humidity plays an important environmental role in whether´-or-not the virus can thrive. The nature of most fabric materials is not conducive to this.

When to take extra precautions in clothes.

If you care for an individual with´-or-often close to COVID-19, washing clothes is often an essential part of preventive hygiene. This includes, in particular, the most vulnerable individuals such as health care workers.
The trip to the grocery store should not necessitate washing clothes as soon as you arrive home. However, if you are not able to maintain a safe social distance from others or, worse still, that someone coughs´-or-sneezes in your immediate surroundings, then washing those clothes would be a good idea.
But in general, focusing on other areas of hygiene like keeping your hands clean and not touching your face is more important than washing clothes.
We know that social distance is the most effective way to control transmission.

When washing clothes at home, killing the virus should not take any extra effort. Most household cleaners are sufficient.
Washing with soap and ordinary water is safe and effective.

What about shoes?

Shoes tend to be -dir-tier than clothes just by nature. As such, they are more likely to transfer bacteria and other contaminants to the home.
A new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the new coronavirus can live on the sole of the shoe.
In the study, the researchers sampled shoe soles worn by medical staff in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Wuhan, China.
They found that half of the samples were positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the strain of the virus that causes COVID-19.
These results prompted the researchers to suggest that the soles of medical staff may act as a carrier of the disease.
However, experts agree that shoes are an unexpected source of new coronavirus transmission in most cases. This is because we are already dealing with shoes the way they should be treated.
What we usually do with shoes is really protective. We do not put our shoes on the kitchen table. We do not put shoes in our mouths. They are not highly tactile areas. Therefore, our daily styles really reflect our management of shoes as -dir-ty things.
But you can take additional safety measures to ensure that contaminants do not enter your home by cleaning your shoes and either leaving them at the door´-or-allocating an area far from the social areas in your home to leave shoes and other outdoor clothing.
It is a good idea to take off and clean your shoes before entering your home (and leaving them in the bathroom´-or-balcony). This will prevent you from introducing a virus into your home from a simple trip to the grocery store. Just be sure to clean it outside your home´-or-apartment, and let it dry naturally.

The bottom line is: transmission of infection from one person to another, not the transmission of clothing from one person to another,´-or-the transmission of shoes from one person to another in any important way.




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