Don't microwave books to get rid of coronavirus
cnn.com
cnn.com
"Unlikely" is certainly true, but different people have different risk tolerances. And if it were really as simple as microwaving the book, this would be pretty reasonable!
The virus needs to settle in the airways to reach the level of infection.
I understand people's reaction, it's hard to sort all the messages from the media & health authorities, but it's still sad that so many have seemingly abandoned common sense.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...
> On Jan 22, Guangfa Wang, a member of the national expert panel on pneumonia, reported that he was infected by 2019-nCoV during the inspection in Wuhan.2
> He wore an N95 mask but did not wear anything to protect his eyes. Several days before the onset of pneumonia, Wang complained of redness of the eyes. Unprotected exposure of the eyes to 2019-nCoV in the Wuhan Fever Clinic might have allowed the virus to infect the body.2
That's why you need to wash your hands. To protect your eyes.
At this point animal studies are necessary to determine whether there is significant infection through items or not. Given the spread of the virus in the world, I think it is unlikely at this point, though (it would've been noticed if significant).
I'm open to proof or hints of proof in that direction, I just don't see it ATM, based on what I've read on contagion events.
"The presence of 2019-nCoV in patients’ saliva suggests the possibility of salivary gland infection.... Further studies are required"
I second the request for a film if someone decides to do it.
Just wait. 2 hours ought to do it, so just don't touch them the day they're returned and then proceed as normal.
Also the odds of a virus infecting you seem very minimal even if you handle a book with live virus on it.
Our local library is holding returned items in isolation for 72 hrs before returning them to general circulation, which seems to be in line with what I've seen most experts recommend currently.
And not everyone is in a position to independently evaluate from first principles what precautions are appropriate and which are insufficient, unhelpful, or excessive.
[0] https://www.bfr.bund.de/en/can_the_new_type_of_coronavirus_b...
However, the drop is nonlinear and indeed after 2 hours half of the viruses will be inactive.
That protects you from viruses left on the book by the prior person who checked it out.
But what about viruses left on the book by people who used the book at the library but did not check it out?
If you are actually worried about possible transmission via library books, you would need to do your own quarantine of the book after you check it out before you start reading it.
Edit: Note that I'm not saying risk of virus transmission via library books is something you actually need to care about. But some people obviously do think it is a risk, or we wouldn't be reading a story about people microwaving library books.
The library is trying to address those (possibly irrational) fears by pointing out that they quarantine the books when they are returned.
All I'm saying is that if someone fears (however irrationally) getting a virus from library books, then they are probably going to want the quarantine to come between them checking out the book and them starting to read the book.
Edit: Do the downvoters earnestly believe the risk of going out in public at all doesn't dwarf the risk of touching a library book somebody else touched a day or two ago? The risk of surface contamination is dubious in the first place, not to mention libraries have a sad tendency to be lightly trafficked. Meanwhile grocery stores are packed and nobody leaves the pizza box they get delivered laying around for three days before touching it.
What are these public libraries that are even still open? My city's libraries have been closed for physical books since March.
You can quarantine them for a few days after checking them out, if you like. Just like mail. Or pizza deliveries.
"Let me spell it for you: don't microwave your books!" - and based on just an isolated incident. By writing an article about this they may create an impression that this is a popular trend whereas it's not.
In fact, I imagine more people would actually try to microwave their books after reading this article.
I once used two razors and a piece of wire plugged into the 220V outlet to boil some water.
A) Why?
B) Honestly that's pretty cool. Even if this is the only answer to A, this is worth being proud of.
No, this wasn't a particularly bright idea. However, someone
A) Was checking out books from the library. In my opinion, this should always be encouraged, with the possible exception of present events.
B) Was trying to protect themselves/their family. Maybe we understand that this is a bad idea, but it was done as an attempt to help.
B rephrased what jasonjayr said, so sorry about that.