‘You CAN’T catch coronavirus from door handles’: Deadly germ does not appear to spread through surfaces such as light switches or table tops, research suggests
- New study suggests virus doesn’t spread through surfaces such as door handles
- This would mean that hand-washing is less important than social distancing
- Professor said it is spread by someone ‘spewing virus from their nose and mouth’
Coronavirus does not appear to spread through surfaces such as door handles or light switches, research has suggested.
Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California, said ‘the surface issue has essentially gone away’.
She added that any virus left on surfaces was not usually strong enough to make people ill.
A new study from the University of California suggests that the coronavirus doesn’t spread through surfaces such as door handles
This suggests that measures such as hand-washing and not touching your face are less important than social distancing and mask-wearing in preventing the spread of the virus.
It also means that constantly spraying surfaces with antibacterial spray – as many have taken to doing during the pandemic – may be unnecessary.
Professor Gandhi told the US science website Nautilus: ‘It’s not [spread] through surfaces.
‘There was a lot of fear at the beginning of the pandemic about fomite transmission.
This suggests that measures such as hand-washing and spraying surfaces are less important than social distancing and mask-wearing in preventing the spread of the virus
‘We now know the root of the spread is not from touching surfaces and touching your eye.
‘It’s from being close to someone spewing virus from their nose and mouth, without in most cases knowing they are doing so.’
Separate research published in the Lancet has suggested that any coronavirus left lingering on surfaces carries only a ‘very small’ risk of infection.