How risky is using a public bathroom during the pandemic?

Given the choice between using a public bathroom and doing anything else, some people will always choose the latter. Regardless of the urgency or however pristine it’s reported to be, the space comes with an ick factor, says Dr. John Ross, who practices hospital medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and is board-certified in infectious diseases. That image is hard to shake even in normal times, but COVID-19 has done nothing to make public bathrooms more appealing, as they come with high-touch surfaces and often lidless toilets. Ross says that it’s easy to see them as hotbeds of infection and avoid them in the name of safety. But not using them has caused people to reorganize their days, figuring out how many errands can be done in one trip, when to stop drinking water, and preventing the possibility of socially-distant visits with friends and relatives. Weighing the risks compared to other indoor activities There’s no clear-cut answer. The coronavirus requires each person to asses each situation, says Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious diseases and vice chairman of the department of medicine at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. Ross says that as an indoor space, a public bathroom is not necessarily a safe environment, but it’s also on par with other indoor spaces. In some ways, it’s a lower-level risk in comparison, but it comes down to the components. One area of concern is...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Cold and Flu Coronavirus and COVID-19 Infectious diseases Safety Source Type: blogs