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1. Various of gel alcohol
2. Various of hand cleaning in Lima
3. Various of hygiene measures in technology business in Buenos Aires
4. Various hygiene measures in a butcher shop in Buenos Aires
5. Various disinfection in trains in Argentina
6. Various sampling in trains
7. Various disinfection in public transport in Buenos Aires
8. Various disinfection in the streets of Quito
9. Various disinfection in Buenos Aires train station
10. various disinfection in trains in South Africa

STORYLINE:

ATTENTION: ALTHOUGH ACCORDING TO SCIENTIFIC STUDIES THE CORONAVIRUS IS RARELY TRANSMITTED BY SURFACES, THIS CANNOT BE DISCARDED OR AVOIDED THE HYGIENE MEASURES

At the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization categorically denied the possibility of airborne transmission and focused its preventive recommendations on hand hygiene and cleaning of surfaces, both indoors and outdoors.

The main theory then about the transmission of the virus was that an infected person emitted particles of saliva with viral load when coughing or sneezing. If a safety distance was maintained and contagion by direct contact was avoided, these drops fell under their own weight and would end up on the ground or other surfaces.

In this case, the contagion was produced by touching those surfaces with the hand and, later, taking those viral particles to our mouth, nose or eyes. The role of the smallest particles of saliva that could be kept in suspension was considered practically irrelevant.

Although contagion by drops that are transmitted directly between two people is still considered one of the main forms of transmission, contagion by contact with the surface is seen today as something very circumstantial and unlikely.

It is becoming increasingly clear that contagion via surfaces is extremely rare, although it cannot be ruled out, according to information compiled by the journal Nature. The coronavirus is transmitted mainly through aerosols, the microparticles that we emit when we speak and breathe.

In March and April, the first studies pointed out that viral RNA could survive for about three days in plastic and stainless steel, four hours in copper, three and a half hours in cardboard, although in all cases its contagion capacity was extinguished in question hours or minutes. Also on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, traces of viral RNA were found in cabins that had been empty for 17 days.

With this initial information, health authorities around the world began to demand constant cleaning of surfaces, to disinfect streets and interiors, and to recommend gloves to avoid contagion.

But finding viral RNA on a surface does not necessarily mean that it is contagious, says Emanuel Goldman, virologist at Rutgers University School of Medicine in New Jersey, in Nature: “Viral RNA is the equivalent of the virus corpse. It is not infectious".

After several months collecting samples from different surfaces of frequent contact in a Massachusetts town, a team of researchers concluded that the risk of being infected by touching a contaminated surface was minimal, less than five cases in 10,000.

So are the initially recommended measures unnecessary? Should the only priority be to keep the air clean and ventilated? "The evidence is not definitive so no one dares to rule it out," declares Manuel Franco, spokesman for the Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration (Sespas).

However, the precautionary principle prevails. As they say in trial movies, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. "That viability has not been demonstrated does not mean that there cannot be contagious viruses at some point," warns epidemiologist Ben Cowling of the University of Hong Kong.

The World Health Organization maintains its recommendation on all hygienic and disinfection measures. Do you need to keep washing your hands as often? That is always recommended: "One of the ways to protect ourselves is by washing our hands, with or without a pandemic," says virologist Goldman.