Is Peeing In A Public Bathroom A Covid-19 Risk?

Each day we all evaluate our risk tolerances when it comes to living our lives and engaging in activities. What if you need to use a public bathroom? Can you catch Covid-19? Short answer, we still don’t know what we don’t know. Long answer-probably not if you follow good hygiene according to infectious disease Doctors John Ross and Todd Ellerin. “The risk of bathroom exposure is largely theoretical — possible, but not proven.” There are theories about the virus lurking in feces and being transmitted through aerosol spray after flushing. But guess what? It’s your feces! If you have the virus, you have the virus. Usually our stalls are separated by barriers, so someone else’s aerosol is unlikely to reach you. A study of 2 hospitals in Wuhan, China showed that sanitation and ventilation limit the viruses concentration in aerosol. A study also could not isolate the Covid-19 virus from stool samples and the fragments that were analyzed were not infectious. Good thing-hopefully. However, we have a lot going for those of us who need to pee in public and here is some advice from Drs. Ross and Ellerin: Minimize your time in the bathroom-save #2 for home or other private toilet! Wear a mask and eye glasses, limit the number of people you expose yourself to in the bathroom and stay 6 feet away. DO NOT TOUCH THOSE HIGH TOUCH AREAS WHERE BACTERIA TEND TO LURK. Be creative-use your foot, elbow, toilet paper or a wipe when lifting, turning or pulling anything. Pee quickly. Do not touch your face, mouth, nose or eyes before washing. WASH YOUR HANDS IMMEDIATELY AFTER. Again, use your elbow, foot, shoulder or other body part(not your hands) to open the door. After you leave, spray your hands with a sanitizer. Clean your glasses and cell phone as Covid-19 could lurk there-again- uncertainties- we don’t know what we don’t yet know! Do what we know-wash your hands, wear a mask, stay at least 6 feet away from others. As for peeing in public, Dr. Ellerin says, “follow the basic hygiene, get in and out, and you’re probably in a low-risk group.” To read further, click the link below.