A: It’s unlikely, but still possible. To reduce this risk, wash your hands regularly and avoid touching your face. This is especially true if you touch something in a public location.
The CDC has recently released a clarification about the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 through contaminated surfaces. As we reported earlier this week on Dear Pandemic, the basic story hasn’t changed: The virus spreads most easily between people, rather than through contaminated surfaces.
But we here at Dear Pandemic wanted to spend a little time discussing a fancy term that nerds on Zoom calls are chatting about all over the world: fomite transmission.
Fomite transmission refers to when an inanimate object (i.e., the fomite) provides the surface for an infectious agent to spread.
For this to happen, several steps have to occur: 1.) The infectious person coughs or sneezes onto their hand (or directly onto another object). 2.) Before thoroughly washing their hands, the infectious person touches the fomite (e.g. salad tongs or elevator button) spreading the virus to the fomite, 3.) An uninfected person must touch the fomite before the viral particles have fully disintegrated (the virus stays viable for longer on some surfaces than others), 4.) The uninfected person must complete the transmission of the virus by touching their face (e.g., mouth or nose) with the contaminated hand.
Aren’t you glad you stuck around to learn this term?
Plus, FOMITES is a handy bingo to keep in mind for your next quarantine Scrabble game.
