Coronavirus Coverage: Researchers From China Find 6 Feet Of Social Distancing Is Not Enough
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Is 6 feet enough for social distancing?
In a study from Wuhan, China, researchers at one hospital swabbed bedrails, trash cans, computers, doorknobs, air, air outlets and floors to look for viral genetic material.
"It's a typical environmental-type study," says Kelly Stefano, chief of microbiology at the Allegheny Health Network, who has done these types of studies before.
More coronavirus was found in the intensive care unit than in the general hospital ward, and the virus traveled farther than the customary distance of cough or sneeze droplets.
The researchers found the virus as far as 13 feet.
But is this a meaningful difference?
"It's all depending how far away from a patient you were. These are people in the ICU and on the [wards] that are sick," said Stefano. "I get nervous saying specific distances mean something. I think you need to be not within close contact with someone."
The hospital floors had a high rate of positive swabs, thought to be from droplets falling to the ground.
And the shoes of half of the healthcare workers were positive and tracked the virus to parts of the hospital where there were no patients, including the pharmacy, where floor swabs were also positive.
So should you decontaminate your shoes?
"It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to spray your shoes. But the reality is, do you have people touching their shoes at the bottom, and touching their face, or touching their mouth and probably not. I really think you're more likely to step in gum then you are to potentially transmit the virus infection back home."
That's because just finding the virus doesn't mean it's infectious.
"We are finding not every particle that may exist on the surface is infectious. The decay on surfaces is extremely rapid," says Stefano. "Just because you're seeing it on your shoes, or seeing it on the surface of stainless steel countertops, or even in the air, if it isn't infectious, it really isn't relevant to the transmission."
You would need to see if the viruses on these surfaces could infect cells.