Coronavirus, air breathed, not surfaces touched
“…I think we've
gone way overboard relative to the disinfection and so forth, and we've made
people feel very nervous about just opening a package, that type of thing. And I
think that's been unfortunate. I mean, this is really all about air. Breathing
someone else's air where the virus is present. It's much, much, much less about
environmental contamination. I would not tell people not to wash your hands,
because I deal with a lot of the diseases where hand-washing is very, very
important. But I would also say no one needs to be frightened of their physical
environment with this virus. It's the air they're breathing. And so if that
gives people relief, I hope that's helpful. ...
“I don't worry about food.
I don't worry about newsprint. I don't worry about packages I get here. I don't
worry about doorknobs and railings any more than I would during the regular cold
season. [That's not] what's going to be the major challenge with this virus. ...
It's the air that we share with each other that is critical. That's why
distancing is so important….”
--Michael Osterholm
is the founder and director of the Center
for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at
the University of Minnesota. His 2017 book,
Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, was
recently republished with a new foreword about COVID-19. Mark Olshaker is the
book's co-author.
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