Epidemic prevention has been downgraded and you want to go out to play, so be careful! "Public toilets" have become the source of new coronavirus infection. Intensivist: Please do "this thing" before going to the toilet
In view of the recent slowing down trend in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, the Epidemic Command Center announced that it will “conditionally” unblock certain indoor venues on July 13, such as movie theaters, night markets, sports venues, etc., which is also commonly known as “micro-unblocking” on the Internet. “; and since July 27, the command center has further announced a “downgrade”, from the original three-level alert to a second-level alert. Whether it is a slight unblocking or downgrading, it may be able to slightly alleviate people’s desire to travel during the level three alert period, but don’t let your mentality completely relax just because of the implementation of the decree! The virus may still be hidden anywhere. Intensivist Huang Xuan believes that if people really want to go out to play, “public restrooms” are one of the places that need special attention.
Virus spreads when toilet flushing may increase the chance of COVID-19 infection
Dr. Huang Xuan explained the confirmed case on May 20: In a restaurant in Kaohsiung, guests at different tables were diagnosed in the same restaurant. These two people were not familiar with each other and ate in the same restaurant but in different rooms. Why was there a cross-infection? After investigation by relevant units, it was found that the source of infection may be the “toilet” of the restaurant.
In addition, Dr. Huang Xuan also mentioned that a paper published in the famous international journal “Gastroenterology” in July 2020 also showed that the proportion of severe COVID-19 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms was 17.1%; regardless of mild or severe disease, No, the virus was found in 48.1% of stool samples from COVID-19 patients, and 70.3% of these stool samples tested positive. Research in Hong Kong also found that the positive rate of the new coronavirus in human feces is 52%, which is higher than the MERS virus (15%), which is also a coronavirus.
It has been determined that the virus may indeed be present in the feces of people diagnosed with COVID-19, so public toilets have become a potential source of infection. According to a study by Florida Atlantic University in the United States, the virus particles or concentrations discharged after flushing are different in different toilet spaces, ranging from a 50% increase to a 209% increase.
Why are so many virus particles expelled from the toilet by flushing? Dr. Huang Xuan said that vigorous flushing by the flush valve will cause “atomization”. About 40% to 60% of viruses, bacteria, and other harmful substances in the toilet are instantly sprayed out and become suspended particles, which are more easily absorbed by the human body. Inhalation; coupled with the relatively narrow public toilets and dense crowds, they may become a breeding ground for the virus. Some studies even believe that if patients with COVID-19 use the toilet, 23.8% of the area in the toilet will be contaminated by the virus, and the most seriously polluted area is the toilet. It can be said that as long as patients with COVID-19 use the toilet, they will be infected with the virus. Risk of viruses remaining in toilets.
During the downgrade period, if you want to go to the toilet when going out, you must not miss any of the epidemic prevention measures.
Based on the above, there must be many people who need to go to the toilet when traveling outside. So what should be done to avoid being invaded by the new coronavirus just because they want to “urinate”? Dr. Huang Xuan suggested that before going to the toilet, you can use the alcohol you carry with you to disinfect the toilet seat first; keep wearing a mask when going to the toilet. The mask can also block the virus sprayed out when flushing and avoid direct exposure to the virus. The risk of inhaling the virus into the nostrils; Furthermore, it is very important to lower the toilet seat before flushing. This behavior can effectively reduce the concentration of viruses sprayed from the toilet; finally, be sure to wash your hands with soap or hand lotion before leaving the toilet, because Whether it is the walls of the toilet, the flush button, the door handle, etc., there is a possibility of virus residues. As long as you touch it, you must clean your hands.
The implementation of the downgrade of the epidemic prevention alert means that the epidemic is gradually being brought under control. However, Taiwan is still a country with a low vaccination rate. While vaccines have not yet been widely administered and “herd immunity” has been achieved, behaviors such as gathering in groups and random movement are still common. The risk is. Therefore, if you are really bored at home and want to go out for a long time, or go to the night market for a delicious meal, you should still take all the epidemic prevention measures, especially going to public toilets, sports centers, and indoor art venues. In such places, special attention must be paid to prevent a temporary negligence in epidemic prevention from causing the next large-scale community infection.
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“You go to the toilet and COVID19 happens to be in the toilet, what should you do?”
