Public Bathrooms Are a Big Question Mark
New data suggests shared bathrooms could be bad news for the pandemic
Scientists have confirmed that the virus that causes Covid-19 can be found in stool. In a new report published Monday in Emerging Infectious Diseases (an open access journal published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), researchers report that the virus was found and isolated from the feces of a person in China with the coronavirus who died. “Confirmation of infectious virus in feces affirms the potential for fecal-oral or fecal-respiratory transmission and warrants further study,” the authors write.
Whether the virus could be found in stool has been suspected for some time. And the confirmation raises the question: Can it spread from stool?
That remains unknown. Could you get the virus if you use a heavily trafficked public restroom, where fecal matter gets into the air during flushing (sorry for that mental image). Scientists don’t know. But concerns remain for people who oversee the cleaning of hospitals, where people with high viral loads are being taken care of.
Public restrooms raise other questions about viral spread. People touch doorknobs and other surfaces like the toilet, sink, and soap dispensers. They may use bathrooms at work and airports to brush their…
