The coronavirus spreads at least 13 feet, travels on shoes: CDC

[Goonch]

The coronavirus can travel through the air at least 13 feet — more than twice as far as social distancing guidelines, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Research published in the federal agency’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal shows the contagion spreading far further than previous official suggestions — and also getting spread on people’s shoes.

“The aerosol distribution characteristics … indicate that the transmission distance of [COVID-19] might be 4 m,” the report says, translating as more than 13 feet.

“Furthermore, half of the samples from the soles of the ICU medical staff shoes tested positive,” the researchers wrote of samples taken at Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan.

“Therefore, the soles of medical staff shoes might function as carriers.”

https://nypost.com/2020/04/12/the-coronavirus-can-travel-at-least-13-feet-new-study-shows/

[demtenjeep]

1. so everything we have been doing is wrong?

I feel hopeless

[Pillow talk]

3. its an important discovery that gives me hope. Theses discoveries will certainly

help flatten the curve.

[Maxheader]

5. Agreed...

A complete understanding is in the works..but this is so new, so dangerous...

[jimfields33]

18. Really? It's a bit late in the game

This is so screwed up. 6 feet they have said for months. Now 13 feet after everyone has been doing six? This is not positive at all.

[exboyfil]

40. It is probability

6 ft maybe 80% effective. 13 ft maybe 95%.

[LiberalArkie]

6. In really toxic areas, your home is sterile. You change clothes in the garage and then put on

fresh clothes and go take a shower.

After going to the supermarket, I spray the bottem of my sneakers with 70% alcohol and my jeans and shirt and let it sit for a minute and go inside and spray my mask with the alcohol also. It sits till I need it again. I go back outside and spray the door handles and the inside and let it sit til I need the car again. All total it takes about 3 minutes. And every thing smells so clean.

[iluvtennis]

34. I gotta start disinfecting the bottom of the shoes...haven't been doing that. thanks for the tip.

[secondwind]

53. We've started to leave our shoes by the entrance door................

[HarlanPepper]

29. These conditions were created in a lab

They are creating optimal conditions to see how far it could travel.

[TeamPooka]

35. "the researchers wrote of samples taken at Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan" not a lab. Live site

[HarlanPepper]

54. Who knows. Have heard several different versions.

[mitch96]

38. This is timely from the mythbuster crew....13' and not optimal...

&feature=emb_logo

[Blue_true]

45. I have suspected that it was carried on shoes for a while.

Part of that is from my training as an engineer, anything that eventually drops has a great likihood of settling on a lower point, for people, that is the floor and the tops of their shoes.

The key is washing your hands after taking off your shoes. Don't put your shoes in a well trafficked location of your home. Also, brushing your shoe soles against the lawn thoroughly before entering your home helps. Don't brush your shoes against the welcome mat first because that only enhances the chance for the virus to spread - points on the lawn are better places to brush the virus off the soles of the shoes.

[LiberalArkie]

2. That is why they wear those little booties, which are in short supply, so they are not changed as

often as needed

[Blue_true]

47. The problem is the virus settles on the tops of the booties and can transfer to

hands when a person takes the booties off.

A better plan is to have two pairs of shoes. Take off the first pair, then thoroughly wash hands or use alcohol or sanitizer. Put of the second pair of shoes that were not used in public or at a hospital. The procedure should be used when grocery shopping or any other activity when forced into the public.

[sheshe2]

4. It just keeps getting worse.

[Merlot]

7. If the virus is on someones shoes, how does that spread it?

Wouldn't you need to touch the floor and then your face?

[Goonch]

10. Aerosol and Surface Distribution of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in

Hospital Wards, Wuhan, China, 2020

The rate of positivity was relatively high for floor swab samples (ICU 7/10, 70%; GW 2/13, 15.4%), perhaps because of gravity and air flow causing most virus droplets to float to the ground. In addition, as medical staff walk around the ward, the virus can be tracked all over the floor, as indicated by the 100% rate of positivity from the floor in the pharmacy, where there were no patients. Furthermore, half of the samples from the soles of the ICU medical staff shoes tested positive. Therefore, the soles of medical staff shoes might function as carriers. The 3 weak positive results from the floor of dressing room 4 might also arise from these carriers. We highly recommend that persons disinfect shoe soles before walking out of wards containing COVID-19 patients.

The rate of positivity was also relatively high for the surface of the objects that were frequently touched by medical staff or patients (Tables 1, 2). The highest rates were for computer mice (ICU 6/8, 75%; GW 1/5, 20%), followed by trash cans (ICU 3/5, 60%; GW 0/8), sickbed handrails (ICU 6/14, 42.9%; GW 0/12), and doorknobs (GW 1/12, 8.3%). Sporadic positive results were obtained from sleeve cuffs and gloves of medical staff. These results suggest that medical staff should perform hand hygiene practices immediately after patient contact.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0885_article

[Igel]

17. Out of an abundance of cautious, clean them.

On the other hand, it's still unclear if people can be infected by the detectable amounts on a surface in the course of daily activities.

It's not whether the virus is present, it's whether people get infected.

[stopdiggin]

44. "It's not whether the virus is present, it's whether people get infected."

Thank you. I think we need to keep saying that, because it's pretty obvious that people don't know or understand that there is a difference. It is an interesting study, and probably warrants consideration. One should also note that the CDC has not (as the article headline might suggest) changed its recommendations on safe distancing.

- snip - The extremely fast transmission capability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has aroused concern about its various transmission routes.
- snip - The main transmission routes for SARS-CoV-2 are respiratory droplets and close contact (3). Knowing the extent of environmental contamination of SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 wards is critical for improving safety practices for medical staff and answering questions about SARS-CoV-2 transmission among the public. However, whether SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted by aerosols remains controversial, and the exposure risk for close contacts has not been systematically evaluated.

[Kaleva]

42. If you watch tv crime dramas, you'll know that 50% of the populations licks shoes.

[Blue_true]

48. People touch their shoes and don't wash or sanitize their hands and lower arms.

The virus is also likely on the tops of the shoes of people exposed to it, including being on shoe strings. It is just Physics.

The key is whenever you touch your shoes, thoroughly wash your hands before doing anything else, I have been practicing this for a couple of months, since the virus reached the USA.

[Baitball Blogger]

8. Raise your hand if you were leaving your shoes outside weeks ago.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

12. I live in an apartment

I can't undress or leave my shoes outside. Damn to have a first floor apartment with a porch.

The only apartment s here that have porches are first floor the rest of us have no balcony and it pisses me off I have asked my landlord for over 4 years for a bottom floor porch.

[LAS14]

33. It's OK to leave them inside your door. The virus doesn't jump around. nt

[I_UndergroundPanther]

41. I have a plastic shoe tray I put them in

And I take off clothes in front of the door as my washer and dryer is right by the door. Than I walk a few feet to the sink run hot water and soap pull off my mask and put it in soapy water than wash my freaking hands.

Do you think it could get around my apartment?

[Blue_true]

51. The virus needs a physical carrier. It only gets around your apartment if you are someone else

move it around.

[Kaleva]

43. Unless u live in the woods, one can't undress outside anywheres.

[Blue_true]

50. Just wash your hands thoroughly after touching your shoes. Also after touching your socks, the

fronts of them.

[marybourg]

15. Years ago.

[Dem2theMax]

25. Me! I fully expect a raccoon to drag them off in the middle of the night.

I read this article a few days ago. I was waiting for it to catch up to everybody. I haven't left my house since March 1st. If I can't order it online, I don't need it. But I do have neighbors bringing me some perishable stuff.
And they take wipes to the grocery store, and wipe down every single item before it's put in a wiped down cart. And then when they bring me anything, it gets wiped down again.

[USALiberal]

30. LOL, ok! nt

[jberryhill]

32. Yo

[Blue_true]

49. I have been washing my hands thoroughly after touching my shoes.

As an engineer, I am trained in fluid flow dynamics, once I read about the virus being released as aresol like with sneezes, I knew that my shoes were potential hosting points, the bottom of the shoes AND the tops of the shoes, including the shoestrings, it was just logical Physics for me.

[Yonnie3]

9. "Our study has 2 limitations."

"First, the results of the nucleic acid test do not indicate the amount of viable virus.

Second, for the unknown minimal infectious dose, the aerosol transmission distance cannot be strictly determined."

They are detecting small traces of the virus which might or might not be active (viable). If active there may or may not be enough there to infect.

This study is a good start, but actual cultures would be needed to show if it is active (viable) or not. The New York post says "shows the contagion spreading far further than previous official suggestions" but all this shows is that it is a possibility.

[greenjar_01]

11. New York Post sensationalizing a really bad read of the study, as usual

That their reading then gets amplified by panic-mongers around the Internet, including here, is to be expected. The study virtually says the opposite of the article.

[Yonnie3]

14. Yes

The New York Post wasn't allowed in the Latest Breaking News forum for that reason when I was hosting. I would suspect that that is still the case.

[Big Blue Marble]

16. The article refers to the study that is published in CDC Journal of Infectious Diseases.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0885_article

And note the study, I linked below that gives early evidence of lengthy spread and
the virus's ability to aerosolize.

[HarlanPepper]

31. And amplified here by pop up amateur epidemiologists

[greenjar_01]

46. When all is said and done, a lot of these folks are going to be embarrassed by the shit they spread

Hahaha. Just kidding. That would take a modicum of self-awareness and a capacity for reflection.

[Big Blue Marble]

13. This study shows the impact of the virus's ability to infect at 4m

and linger in the air.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3074351/coronavirus-can-travel-twice-far-official-safe-distance-and-stay

[Igel]

21. A few points.

It wasn't replicated in a controlled fashion. (And won't be, since nobody's going to do the experiments with SARS-CoV-2 that they'd do with a less harmful virus.) And contact tracing hasn't turned up other incidents like this, at least not that I've seen.

It wasn't controlled--the people sat there, but what other contact was there? Did they stand next to each other in line? Did the infected person cough as s/he boarded the transport and went to the back? The people didn't pop into existence in their seats and then when reaching their destination suddenly appear outside the bus. In numerous other situations a simple hug was enough to spread it, so brief proximity can make a big difference.

Asymptomatic patients would be a wild card here--the assertion is that the one passenger infected the others, but I don't recall seeing it stated explicitly that everybody on the bus was tested, or had antibody tests run.

That it hasn't turned out to be a big deal suggests that the suggested conclusions aren't necessary the correct conclusions.

As for "linger in the air," that's a different story.

[greenjar_01]

22. South China Morning Post is publishing garbage non-stop

It's almost as if it's a propaganda organ of some kind derp drp derp.

[Girard442]

19. Wouldn't the only way to test for viability would be to culture the sample?

In a living medium, since it's a virus, not a bacterium. Sounds arduous.

[procon]

20. In most Asian homes you take off your street shoes

before entering and change into some comfy soft slippers. The virus not withstanding, just think about all the seen and unseen nasty crap you walk on everyday. It's enough to make you sick, and with the virus it could be doing just that.

Like a lot of people even before the virus I asked visitors not to wear their shoes in my house. Initially it was because the house was new and it didn't want to have scratches, scuff marks and dirt tracked across my new floors. Later it evolved into clean up, I didn't want to spend extra time with mops and vacuums to pick up after everyone who came inside.

Now my reasoning for no shoes has evolved again to include the threat of contagion posed by the corona virus. So the shoes get left at the door and everyone puts on oversized slippers.

Oddly enough no one ever seemed to be surprised or off put by my wacky rules, and a few other people have also started the no shoes rules too. Nowadays it seems pretty much a normal thing to do.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

23. So just because the virus can be detected, does that mean it can infect people?

That's the real question. It's not whether the virus is present, it's whether people get infected.

It seems as though there's a lot of speculation going on.

[gristy]

24. Agreed.

[Blue_true]

52. Yes. Viral dose is important for infection. nt

[appalachiablue]

26. Masks for the face, gloves for the hands, booties for shoes!

[JoeOtterbein]

27. If they had shoe coverings and other PPE it would not be a problem.

(tears)

[morillon]

28. We have sort of an airlock set up

We're at the point now where we don't go ANYWHERE public, but the few times we had to a few weeks ago, we undressed in the utility room when we came back, put our clothes straight into the washing machine, and got a shower right away. My spouse had a minor but necessary in-office procedure a month ago, and he washed with Hibiclens before he went, did the airlock/undress thing when he got back, and showered with Hibiclens again.

(Hibiclens is the pre-op cleaning stuff many hospitals make you use before surgery to kill any surface nasties on your skin.)

[cstanleytech]

36. Guess they are going to have to place some sort of pad or something that people walk over at the

entrance to and from buildings that has a cleaning solution designed to kill the virus.
Won't catch all of it of course but it might help to greatly reduce the problem.

[appleannie1]

37. The one time I had to go to the store I took a change of shoes out to the garage to change as I got

out of the car. I left the shoes I wore in the garage until I could spray them with disinfectant. So I guess I did the right thing.

[Botany]

39. Take your shoes off before you go back into your house .....

Leave them outside .... put them on a rag or towel that has a 5 to 10% bleach solution
on it and then put them on a rack in the dryer for 20 minutes.


Always have some "outdoor" shoes outside of your house to wear.

Wear gloves too. If you are wearing cheap cloth gloves wear them 1 time and put 'em
into a bag after you are donned then wash 'em and dry them.

You can not see, smell, or know where the C-19 virus is so treat every area as if it is infected.

[Zambero]

56. This is VERY bad news for Republicans

Collectively and individually, they insist on putting a foot in their mouth, when not shooting it.

[Fiendish Thingy]

57. NY Post, folks - stop and use some critical thinking

Yellow tabloid journalism at its finest

Transmission distance “might” be 13 feet...shoe samples taken from ICU staff...OF COURSE they would likely have COVID contamination! (They should be wearing shoe covers!)

Take reasonable precautions in public, stay home unless absolutely necessary, stop getting information from specious sources.

[Goonch]

58. What