As millions of American remain isolated at home, epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Morse and virologist Dr. Vincent Racaniello from Columbia University provide answers to questions on whether a person can get the virus from their clothes, handling groceries or going on a run.
Colette Luke has more.
Even as millions of Americans remain isolated at home, they're still left wondering if they're bringing the virus into their house when they go to the market, walk the dog or take a run.
We posed these questions and others to epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Morse and virologist Dr. Vincent Racaniello- both from Columbia University.
Beginning with - what should you do immediately when you get home?
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. STEPHEN MORSE, PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, SAYING: "If I'm wearing a raincoat or something like that over a light jacket, then I can put that away in the closet and after a few days, I won't have to worry about that/"Then I would go and wash my hands and I'd probably wash my face too, just as a precaution." But if you were around many people - for example - on a crowded subway car?
Then Dr. Racaniello says you might want to change your clothes.
What about…… your shoes?
Dr. Racaniello says it's best to leave them outside or by the entrance of your home.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. VINCENT RACANIELLO, HIGGINS PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "The virus is not going to rise off, that's the thing, once the virus is settled on any object, it's just staying there.
So if you don't touch it, you know, if you have shoelaces, you're going to come in and wash your hands anyway, that'll take care of that.
Then the next morning, you put your shoes on.
You go wherever you're going, and at some point, wash your hands.
Just make sure you're not touching your face.
I don't think you need to Lysol your shoes.
No." As for handling mail and groceries?
The doctors said it was fine to discard or recycle the outer packages and to put the inner items away without individually washing them.
But it was essential to always wash your hands after.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. VINCENT RACANIELLO, HIGGINS PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "Contaminated packages, I haven't seen anything that would suggest that that's a major way of transmission.
So I think what we do now is we put everything away and we wash our hands." The doctor said it was important to be careful of high-touch surfaces like car doors, elevator buttons, key pads and credit cards.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. VINCENT RACANIELLO, HIGGINS PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SAYING:"The guy gives it back and that could be contaminated, the credit card, so you have to make sure you wash your hands.
And the other place that's a high risk I think is in the store, any store where you put your card in, you punch a number in, those pads are high risk because hundreds of people are going through a day with dirty hands." Morse said it was a good idea to wipe your phone down too.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. STEPHEN MORSE, PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, ON WIPING DOWN A PHONE, SAYING:" "Phones are often neglected, and you use them a lot and very often you hold them up to your face and you touch them.
" The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages frequent handwashing for at least 20 seconds and disinfection of surfaces with an alcohol-based cleaner as methods of prevention… The CDC also recommends all Americans wear face masks in public settings when social distancing is impossible.
Does that include while jogging?
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. VINCENT RACANIELLO, HIGGINS PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY & IMMUNOLOGY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SAYING: "You don’t need to wear a mask.
If you can stay six feet away..Some countries have banned jogging, which I think is completely unnecessary because you're not usually jogging next to someone.
If you pass someone, just make sure you stay away from them, and I think it's fine.
I think it's good.
I think people need to do certain things, otherwise we're all going to go crazy.
It's a balance between being very careful and maintaining your sanity."
(Part 1 of 2) With millions of people out of work and losing their health insurance during the worst pandemic in a century, we..
