Coronavirus Transmission: Does COVID-19 Spread Through Clothing, Towels And Other Fabrics?

The fact that the deadly novel coronavirus survives on surfaces up to a few hours is being a great concern, especially after the lockdown. People have been panicking if the bags that they carry and the clothes that they wear could carry and transmit COVID-19.

Due to working alongside COVID-19 patients all day, several emergency room health workers change their clothes as soon as they get home or even before entering their households. Does this indicate that we should be worried about all the fabric we have been handling?

Coronavirus on Fabric: Here’s what you should know:

Studies have shown that the coronaviruses can remain on some surfaces up to 3 days and some of them include plastic bags and metal surfaces. The study didn’t concentrate on fabric. However, experts opine that the viruses stick on to hard surfaces compared to softer ones like fabrics, Medical Daily mentioned.

“So far, evidence suggests that it’s harder to catch the virus from a soft surface (such as fabric) than it is from frequently touched hard surfaces like elevator buttons or door handles,” Medical Daily quoted Lisa Maragakis, senior director of infection prevention at the Johns Hopkins Health System.

Experts also opined that the virus might not be viable on surfaces. Infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Maryland told Health that he doesn’t believe that clothes act as a ‘major vehicle spread’ for the novel coronavirus.

“I suspect that you can find the viability of the virus for several hours to maybe a day on clothes. It depends largely on the environmental conditions—temperature and humidity impact the growth of the virus,” the Health quoted Adalja.

However, it is better to be safe than sorry, isn’t it?

Here’s what you can do to lower your risk of exposure to the deadly coronaviruses when it comes to your clothing:

• If there is none in your household with an infected individual, and none displayed any COVID-19 symptoms, you can go ahead and clean your clothes the way you usually do.
• But when you have been out in public, for shopping and if you have witnessed that people around you haven’t been following social distancing, it is probably ideal to wash the clothes that you wore outside, immediately after getting back home.
• Since some of the studies revealed that the viruses could remain active for about 3 days on plastic and metal, the zippers and buttons on your clothes might bring the viruses home. (Maybe!)
• And when you are caring for a sick person at home, or someone at home is suspected for COVId-19, you have to take extra precautions in handling and washing their clothes including their towels. Wear gloves while handling their clothes and wash your hands as soon as you take off the gloves.