Can you track coronavirus around on your shoes? Here’s how to stay safe
You could be carrying coronavirus on the soles of your shoes, according to a new study posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
In the study, researchers with the Academy of Military Sciences in Beijing tested “potentially contaminated” surfaces and objects from a Wuhan, China hospital that treated infected COVID-19 patients. There were high rates of positivity on “computer mice, trash cans and sickbed handrails,” according to the study.
The researchers also found that half of the samples from the shoe soles of the intensive care unit medical staff tested positive for the virus.
“Therefore, the soles of medical staff shoes might function as carriers,” researchers said.
It’s possible medical staff could have carried the virus to other rooms of the hospital, according to the study. The hospital’s pharmacy, where there were no patients, had a 100% rate of positivity on the floor, the study said.
Researchers recommended people disinfect their shoes after walking out of rooms housing coronavirus patients.
Shoes made with plastic or synthetic materials, such as spandex, could carry an active virus for days, public health specialist Carol Winner told Huffington Post.
It’s suggested to wipe down work shoes with disinfecting wipes and to have a separate pair to put on before entering your home, health professionals told Huffington Post.
New Jersey Dr. Eric Pena told Inside Edition the shoes he wears at his hospital never enter his home. Inside Edition also recommended putting shoes into a washing machine.
“What we usually do with shoes is already protective,” Dr. Kathleen Jordan, an infectious disease specialist, told Healthline. “We don’t put our shoes on the kitchen table. We don’t put shoes in our mouths. They aren’t high touch areas. So, our daily patterns already reflect our management of shoes as dirty objects.”
An ICU nurse went viral on TikTok after showing her daily sanitizing methods, which include bleaching her shoes overnight,according to FootWearNews.com.
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Can you track coronavirus around on your shoes? Here’s how to stay safe."