VICTIMS CAN CONTAMINATE ENVIRONMENT
NEWDELHI: A study has found that asymptomatic and presymtomatic people with Covid-19 are highly infectious and can extensively contaminate the environment.
NEW DELHI: In a finding that has major implications for people using public transport and sharing office space as the lockdown is relaxed in India, a study has found that asymptomatic and presymtomatic people with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) are highly infectious and can extensively contaminate the environment in a very short time.
Different surfaces in the hotel rooms of two students, who returned to China on March 19 and March 20, without symptoms were tested three hours after they tested positive on the second day in quarantine, according to the study. These included door handles, light switches, faucets, thermometers, TV remotes, pillows, duvet covers, sheets, towels, bathroom door handles, toilet seats and flushing buttons, said the study, which was published in Emerging Infectious Diseases journal of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The detection of Sars-CoV-2 RNA( genetic material) in the surface samples ... highlights the importance of proper handling procedures when changing or laundering linens of SARS-CoV-2 patients,” said researchers.
What has fuelled the spread of the pandemic is the long incubation period of the infection, which, on average, takes 5.1 days to show symptoms. Some people have no symptoms as they have mild disease or because they are pre-symptomatic, but they can be infective. “Lockdowns prevent undiagnosed infected people from stepping out and infecting others, but with less restricted travel, chances of exposure increase, especially because it is a younger, healthier workforce that is the most mobile,” said Dr Ambarish Dutta, associate professor of epidemiology and public health, Indian Institute of Public Health, Bhubaneswar. “As lockdown lifts, social distancing, wearing masks and hand washing will be the only defence against Covid-19, for which there is no approved vaccine or cure,” he said.