Is outdoor disinfection effective, necessary?
Dear Editors:
I am a resident of Manila. I am one of many senior citizens who are compelled to stay at home again by the current resurgence of Covid-19 (or its variant) cases in Metro Manila.
Like many, I have suffered and resented the pernicious impact of this notorious pandemic, but have submitted to the protocols of the government’s community quarantine. I have endured the difficulty of breathing while wearing a mask (and an additional face shield when it was required). I have conscientiously practiced social or physical distancing from others. And I have limited my activities and movements according to the rules and restrictions of the applied or relevant community quarantine.
However, I now find good reason to question the spraying of noxious disinfectant in our streets as an intervention to control the spread of Covid-19.
In the afternoon of 8 April, outdoor disinfection (fumigation) for the Covid-19 virus was carried out in our streets without prior notice. After smelling the pungent odor of the disinfectant that permeated the air inside the house, I experienced nasal pain and throat irritation. Later on, I became dizzy, started coughing and had difficulty breathing.
I learned from our barangay captain that the disinfectant was a mixture of Lysol, Zonrox and water. He confirmed that personnel from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) were the ones who undertook the disinfection in our streets.
However, may I point out that our barangay captain and the residents of our community were not informed about the schedule of disinfection beforehand. Neither were we advised to close the doors and windows of our houses to prevent entry of toxic aerosol and to wear a mask to minimize the inhalation of such substance.
In other words, vulnerable individuals, like myself, were not protected from harmful chemical exposure. Clearly, no protocol was followed to safeguard human health against an injurious disinfection of our environment.
Furthermore, it seems that the NDRRMC did not appreciate, and ignored, the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the disinfection of outdoor spaces:
“In outdoor spaces, large-scale spraying or fumigation in areas such as streets or open market places for the Covid-19 virus or other pathogens is not recommended (underscoring is mine). Streets and sidewalks are not considered as routes of infection for Covid-19. Spraying disinfectants, even outdoors, can be noxious for people’s health and cause eye, respiratory or skin irritation or damage.
“This practice will be ineffective since the presence of dirt or rubbish, for example, inactivates the disinfectant, and manual cleaning to physically remove all matter is not feasible. This is even less effective on porous surfaces such as sidewalks and unpaved walkways. Even in the absence of dirt or rubbish, it is unlikely that chemical spraying would adequately cover surfaces allowing the required contact time to inactivate pathogens.”
Is it then proper and prudent to appropriate funds for such a flawed and unnecessary effort of disinfection? Sadly, our government’s use of ineffective and harmful disinfection took the risk to human health without any apparent benefit to the community.
Let me also quote from the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
“The principal mode by which people are infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) is through exposure to respiratory droplets carrying infectious virus. It is possible for people to be infected through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects (fomites), but the risk is generally considered to be low.
“Surface disinfection has been shown to be effective for preventing secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between an infected person and other people within households. However, there is little scientific support for the routine use of disinfectants in community settings, whether indoor or outdoor, to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission from fomites (underscoring is mine).”
The selection of effective preventive measures to decrease the transmission of Covid-19 cannot set aside the importance of research, discernment and prudence. I am hoping that wiser men in authority may consider this opinion.
I believe that the subject of my concern, the use of harmful and ineffective intervention to control a virulent predatory virus is just one among the poor choices the government has made as manager of our nation’s welfare. How can we wake up from the nightmare that is Covid-19 if we are kept asleep by ignorance and deception?
Sonia Vargas