What’s the Deal With Coronavirus and Surface Spread?

Updated guidance from the CDC provides new details about the virus’ transmission patterns

Uncertainty about Covid-19’s ability to spread through surfaces can make it seem like no surface is ever clean enough. Maybe you’ve found yourself in the absurd situation of wiping down a box of Cheerios, or disinfecting bicycle handles until the rubber starts to flake. Such efforts are understandable — in the face of uncertainty, better to be safe than sorry.

But now, updated guidance from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention states that the virus “does not spread easily” from touching surfaces or objects. The recent update to its “How Covid-19 Spreads” website emphasizes that person-to-person contact remains the primary way that the disease spreads. Previous research has established that the virus is largely spread through respiratory droplets produced when we talk, cough, and sneeze. When others breathe in those droplets, they can become infected.

Previous research has shown that traces of the virus can be detected on surfaces, as was the case on the Diamond Princess and Grand Princess cruise ships, where viral RNA remained on surfaces for up to 17 days. But crucially, that research did not show that the viral particles found on the surfaces can cause infection.

While transmission via surfaces is not ruled out entirely, the CDC guidance says that touching surfaces or objects “is not…