Coronavirus does not actually spread easily from touching surfaces as revealed in a new report from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.
However, person-to-person contact is still very much a concern and social distancing is still the best practice in prevention of the infectious virus, according to health officials.
“I think what it means is that we can go ahead and not be as concerned about that,” said NBC News medical correspondent Dr. John Torres. “We still need to be a little bit concerned and still do the things we need to do to stay safe, and that means mainly washing your hands.”
While it may not be the main way the virus spreads, the CDC made it clear that it is possible to get the coronavirus from touching an infected surface and then touching your mouth, nose or eyes.
“In other words, we don’t touch something, then touch our faces and get it as easily, although we can still get it that way,” Torres said. “The main focus needs to be on that social distancing, wearing masks, because getting it through respiratory droplets … is the No. 1 way we get it.”
He continued: “It doesn’t mean you can’t get it from touching something else. It just means that we don’t need to be as concerned with that as we do with the respiratory droplets and … social distancing. That needs to be the main emphasis. But still clean things, still wash your hands, get your children to do the same thing, but again make sure we focus on the social distancing. That’s priority No. 1.”
Torres also responded to news that the world’s coronavirus cases are growing, seeing a 100,000 jump in one day, according to the World Health Organization.
“I know it’s been a few months. I know a lot people are tired of doing things, but at the same time, we can’t let our guard down because we’re gonna be right where we started from, and we’re going to have to do this all over again,” he explained.
