Have we learned to live with Covid? After more than a year and a difficult turning point, waiting for the vaccines to do their job, there are some questions that need to be answered. How can you stay in a family with adolescent and non-adolescent children who come and go, always in contact with their peers? How can you reconcile the need to take home shopping and other things that come from outside, with the certainty that they are not sanitized? And again: have we learned to live with the need to send children to school, and take them back when they return home, certain that their clothes do not come out contaminated? And the animals that live with us, how to protect them from the risk of close contact with the virus? But first of all: can we dream, in view of the summer that is not so far away, of returning to the beach and not risking being overwhelmed by Covid?
Covid: the things we don’t know and the challenges of science
by Agnese Codignola
Giovanni Maga, virologist, director of the Cnr of Pavia, has been saying for months that a distinction must be made. Now explain what. Let’s start with a certainty: “The virus circulates as before – he begins – the only difference compared to a year ago is that we are talking about an English strain, more contagious because it is very fast. But infections always occur in the same way: only through the respiratory tract. While contact with surfaces is almost impossible: the probability is one in 10,000. We have not had evidence of major viral transmissions through this last route, except in particular contexts, such as Covid hospital wards. So it is obvious that the ‘basic hygiene is important and recommended, but regardless of the idea that you can get infected by touching something “.
“The virus resists 28 days on surfaces. But in the laboratory”
by GIULIANO ALUFFI
So if I leave the house and then come back, what should I do? “I behave as always – explains Maga – the ideal is not to walk in the same shoes I use outside. But this is also true in the normal daily routine. Maybe we can air the clothes we wear, but there are no particular measures to be taken . This also applies to children “. For the virologist, “you have to stick to a habit: take care of hygiene, but without excessive precautions”. And here comes the difference between cleaning and sanitizing. “At home we talk about cleaning, not sanitation – he specifies – the latter is nothing more than a deep cleaning that is recommended only in environments where there have been infected people and if there is a positive family member. Normally it is advisable to change air to the premises and disinfect, especially the bathrooms positive in the home a somewhat stricter protocol must be respected: maintain isolation, use a mask, possibly assign a separate room to those who have contracted the virus, do not share cutlery, if possible have independent toilets, otherwise disinfect the premises “.
Coronavirus, because keeping windows open is very effective
by Viola Rita
And if, past the red and orange zone, we invite someone to our house, how should we behave? “If we have a stranger in the house, prudence would like us to wear the mask, unless we are sure that it has been vaccinated or not positive – underlines Maga – then we make her wash her hands: soap and water or a disinfectant wipe are enough. Let’s say it is not essential to take off your shoes. However, regardless of the possible presence of the virus. It should be normal to provide a pair of slippers to those who stay for a few hours in our house. Among other things, in these days, the American body Ecdc ( European Center for Disease Prevention and Control) has updated the guidelines claiming that the number of contact infections is very low “.
Coronavirus: it is useless to sanitize everything, more important to open the windows
by Irma D’Aria
Govern the comings and goings of children. Certainly it is not easy to deal with the comings and goings of children, especially adolescents: the contacts they can have with their peers and that they are kept respecting all the rules of the case? “How to live with adolescent children is only a matter of responsibility – explains the virologist -. If parents go in and out of the house to work or shop, their children can do so too, but respecting the rules. Contagion occurs by close contact, so if people on the outside respect the rules, the risk is reduced. Let’s face it: you can’t stay indoors with a mask, but you have to wear it when you are out. If everyone behaves responsibly, the risk is greatly reduced “.
Domestic dogs and cats do not transmit Coronavirus but can be infected by their owners
Pets are not scary. For Maga, the fear of Covid contagion through pets is a great nonsense. Therefore he reassures: «There have been very rare cases in which domestic animals acquired the virus, but did not transmit it. So you absolutely must not disinfect the dog or cat because there is no evidence that it is contagious. Simply, when the animal enters the house, it is sufficient to wipe it with a wipe. As is usually done ».
Covid: where and when we are most at risk of contagion
by Donatella Zorzetto
Longing for the beach. Although the many red areas in Italy have just turned orange, and therefore the forced isolation still keeps Italians away from the idea of lying on the beach, thoughts turn to holidays hoping for something that tastes so much of normality. So can we walk on the beach? What about sunbathing? “Yes, if you are at a distance of more than two meters from other people – confirms Maga – in this circumstance there is no risk, as even if you meet people in a dynamic situation. So in the presence of people in transit we can rest assured. “.
What about sunbathing? “Even if we are vaccinated we must first wear a mask. But if we stand still, sunbathe and do not wear the mask, another person would have to approach us less than a meter away to get infected. However, in the height of summer, with the crowd on the beach, certainly the problem would arise “.
How long does the virus survive in the air? But how long does Covid stay in the air of a room, an elevator, or even outdoors, threatening our lungs? After months it was found that “the survival of Covid in the air is affected by different conditions: humidity, temperature and shape – Maga specifies – if in a closed place there has been crowding, with many people breathing at the same time, thus creating a situation of “aerosol”, the virus can remain in the air, if not recycled, for a certain period of time. How long it depends on whether it is infectious material or not: it can vary from a few minutes to ten. In an elevator, for example, it is enough for the doors to open to re-establish a balance. In any case, in small rooms such as elevators, or in any case closed and poorly ventilated, even if you are alone you must wear a mask, because it is still an environment frequented by others people”. More than a year will have passed since the appearance of Covid, but prudence remains the first rule.
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