COVID-19 numbers are rising and more people are having to quarantine.
Dr. Brian Roberts, medical director at MedStop Urgent Care in San Luis Obispo, debunked a few myths about quarantining.
“Quarantining five days - day zero is the day of your exposure, and it's after five days that you move to the second set, so a lot of people are calling day one their day of exposure and day five their day of release. They’re off by 2 days,” explained Dr. Roberts,
If you are infected, and even if you are not, Dr. Roberts recommended washing your hands before and after you touch things and using soap and water on common surfaces.
“So, plastic surfaces, steel surfaces, shining solid surfaces should be cleaned well, carpets, irregular porous surfaces don't tend to have as much of a chance of transmitting the virus,” Dr. Roberts said.
COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory virus, spread by droplets. When someone exhales, coughs or sneezes, they release viral particles in the air.
If another person is nearby and breathes in those particles, that is when they get infected.
Dr. Roberts says people do not need to worry about reinfecting themselves should they touch something they handled while infected.
He says their immunity immediately after infection will be high.
“It's my pill bottle or my makeup bottle. I'm not going to give it back to myself later. No, you do not have to worry about infecting yourself with your solid surface that only you interact with,” he clarified.
And for those who are afraid to handle mail and packages, Dr. Roberts said there is a simple solution.
“If you are picking up a box that you don't know how many people handle it and you are bringing it into another place, that's the simple answer. Wash your hands before. Wash your hands after and your risk goes close to zero.”
