Covid virus skin and respiratory spread clarifications

Just a couple of points here for clarification.  Clearly  I didn’t write this clearly, and I don’t want things misinterpreted.

Hand and skin Covid virus spread

The biggest problem with hands is that we then touch our faces without thinking about it.  It’s turning out (more data needed) that perhaps it doesn’t live on surfaces as long as was initially thought.   Hand washing and hand sanitation are still important though!

Gloves can be used.  In medical and dental settings they are changed, at a minimum, between each patient and often several times during a procedure.  Gloves are not generally advised outside of medical, dental or commercial kitchen settings, because they get used for too long.  It would be better to hand wash or hand sanitize multiple times while in the grocery store, for example.

Respiratory virus spread

As for the respiratory route, yes it’s very important, but it’s a matter of degree.  And yes, quite a number of people have great immune systems, don’t have symptoms, and can spread disease. It’s also turning out though people, especially children, who don’t have symptoms seem to be less able to spread it.  This from recent research, but more research still needed.

But consider that talking produces very little droplet spread, while sneezing, coughing and singing full volume DO produce much more droplet spread.  It’s a matter of what’s called the inoculum which is number of viral particles being produced when it’s heading our way.  It makes sense that the greater the viral load, the greater the chance of infection.

This is why masks are a good idea in the appropriate settings.  You can’t catch Covid from random air, for example running alone outside with no one else around.

And of course, if any of us are ill, we gotta stay home until we get tested.

Hope this helps,

Dr. B