It’s almost been a year since Covid-19 came into our lives. The pandemic has been making headlines now and then, however, a major concern when the pandemic had just struck was the transmission of the virus through objects, objects like mobile screens, banknotes, etc. This meant that Covid-19 could be transmitted through almost every other object we use in our daily lives. But the main question is, is it real? How much is it actually possible to catch Covid-19 through a surface?
There is not much evidence pertaining to the fact that surface transmission is a common way of transmitting the virus. It is mainly spread by air, by larger droplets through close contact, or by smaller droplets called aerosols.
Journal Lancet Infectious Diseases published one of the best commentaries on Covid surface transmission in July 2020 by Emanuel Goldman, a professor of microbiology from the United States. The number of studies showing SARS-CoV-2 viral particles could be detected for long periods of time on various surfaces was one of the major reasons for these hyped perceptions of Covid transmission.
As a general principle, the time required for a population of microorganisms to die is directly proportional to the size of that population. So, the larger the amount of virus present on a surface, the longer will be the time you will find the viral particles on that surface.
We are relying on indirect evidence in finding out the role of surface transmission for the coronavirus. The fact that people have to be deliberately infected never quite allows the scientific experiment of Covid surface transmission. It is astonishingly difficult to determine the relative importance of the various pathways in which this virus can be transmitted. The best thing we can do is to look at all the evidence and case studies including surface transmission and that does not make for enough evidence to support surface transmission an important element in the spread of Covid.
Text by: Sreyoshi Sil, IBTN9
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