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Comment by twoodfin | Hacker News Reader

It’s shocking to me that nine months into this thing I have no idea if fomite transmission is something worth worrying about. And that an article like this doesn’t even bother to try to summarize the case that aggressive use of sanitizers like Lysol will actually cut transmission vs. simply kill the virus on surfaces where it might not matter.

Nine months! What a colossal failure of epidemiology and public health.

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Surface transmission is almost certainly an extremely unlikely vector for COVID-19. I tried doing some research the other day, and could find no information supporting the notion that surface transmission is likely. It’s also telling that the CDC’s guidelines for initiating quarantine are solely based on physical proximity to someone with covid for an extended period.

That said, if others have found evidence that surface transmission is likely (or even possible), I would love to see that evidence. Now that we are quite a ways into the pandemic, there should be some scientific consensus emerging on how/where transmission is likely.

Gotta educate yourself. No one else can do it for you. 5 secs of google search led me to the following site. Although, few months ago, I also read a similar statement here on HN that COVID does not spread from surface to surface but it's not completely ruled out.

> Droplets can also land on surfaces and objects and be transferred by touch. A person may get COVID-19 by touching the surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes. * Spread from touching surfaces is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. *

Source - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/faq.html#Spread

The NY Times had an article that the virus doesn’t really spread on surfaces: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/world/asia/covid-cleaning...

They're not all the same month! I think there was an emerging consensus by summer that surface transmission wasn't a priority concern, but now that the weather is changing and with it the humidity, there's a lot more uncertainty.

Is anyone else confused or put off by the term "fomite"? It has such an odd sound/etymology, isn't used in anything close to daily language, and doesn't sound like something to do with surface droplets or particles that transmit disease. I would think a different word could help popularize awareness better.

Perhaps in verbal conversation it makes sense to define it in place, but we're on the internet. Just highlight the word and search it. I wouldn't say that in most contexts, but considering the demographic here, a lot of conversation would be bogged down if we were defining more obscure terms for each other every time they come up.

Either way, the comment is about how we don't exactly know whether fomite transmission is cause for concern, so popularizing awareness doesn't seem necessary (at least until that question is answered in the affirmative).

If the majority need to search something to understand your message, that is not a communications success. I am all for telling people to look it up, but most people realistically are not going to do that.

The fomite discussion is definitely worth more studies

Though to be honest, it seems a lot of people underwash their hands, and the sanitizer might help with other diseases

Why would a product ad include information that may negatively affect sales? :)

Don't expect any answers to practical questions when there's a neurotic narrative to promote. Hygiene theater for everyone!

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