Dr Nicola Brink gave advice on how to handle inanimate objects, in particular those entering the home, in response to an influx of questions from the public about the safety of objects such as groceries, cardboard packages and other items.
Dr Brink explained that touching surfaces was one of two ways to catch the virus.
‘We get a lot of questions about how you can catch the virus and there’s basically two mechanisms – one is through respiratory secretion, so coughing and sneezing and so on, and the other is through touching or contact with inanimate objects,’ she said
‘The survival of the virus has been looked at on a variety of inanimate objects, from, for example, copper, which is only about eight hours, to plastic, which is up to three days.’
Focusing on good infection control by washing your hands after disposing of potentially contaminated packaging was important, she said.
‘You’ve got to consider any inanimate objects potentially contaminated so you wash your hands. People are focusing on sterilising everything around them then they don’t do the simple thing and wash their hands, then they touch their face.
‘As for looking at post and so on, open your post, dispose of the packaging, don’t leave it lying around, and wash your hands – sing happy birthday twice and wash your hands.’
Dr Brink said the virus was new and there were still unknowns but modelling of another coronavirus demonstrated that immunity would likely develop by day 40.
‘I looked at the modelling of the other coronavirus called MIRS, Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome, which is part of the same group of viruses,’ she said.
‘When I looked at that it seems certainly for the next year or so the person seems to be protected.
‘If you’ve had the virus and had your clearance, in other words if your swabs are negative, from about day 40 onwards when you’ve got the antibodies we think you’re unlikely to transmit the virus to anyone else.’
Dr Brink was clear that anyone who had been infected and whose day 14 swab test came back negative would no longer be infectious. By day 40, antibodies should have developed and the person should have immunity to infection for a year.
However, there is still some uncertainty about how long antibodies and therefore immunity to the virus could last.
Dr Brink said the virus had not mutated a lot so far but admitted there was a lot of uncertainty over how it might act in future due to how new it was.
In a continuation of answering the public’s frequently asked questions, Gavin St Pier said his team was considering an island-wide educational webinar to tackle misinformation and confusion surrounding the topics of testing and personal protective equipment.
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