COVID: Shower, change clothes after going out?
January 28, 2021 7:18 AM Subscribe
I've been changing clothes and showering whenever I come home from the cancer center, but I have to go twice tomorrow, and I'm wondering if this is still considered necessary. On the CDC site, it says to wash your hands when you get home. but nothing about showering or changing clothes. I'm not finding anything else that strikes me as definitive.
If it matters, I'm not a health care worker. I'm going in the morning for a blood draw and then later in the day for an injection.
Best answer: (And to be clear, given the relatively brief nature of your visits and presumably good mask hygiene of folks at a cancer center, I don't think either showering or clothes changing are actually necessary, but I understand having a heightened level of concern given that you are currently receiving cancer treatment.)
posted by ocherdraco at 7:37 AM on January 28, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by ocherdraco at 7:37 AM on January 28, 2021 [12 favorites]
My microbiology is weak, but my office etiquette is strong----if they have you there for $THING1, they might prefer to just do $THING2 while you're already there. Is there a friendly office person you can call and point out the (relative) inconvenience of having to make two separate visits to the same place on the same day, and see if there's a way to combine the visits?
posted by adekllny at 8:27 AM on January 28, 2021
posted by adekllny at 8:27 AM on January 28, 2021
Response by poster: The nurse is trying to see if she can move my injection to earlier in the day.
And yes, they are extremely careful at the cancer center in terms of both masks and distancing.
posted by FencingGal at 8:30 AM on January 28, 2021
And yes, they are extremely careful at the cancer center in terms of both masks and distancing.
posted by FencingGal at 8:30 AM on January 28, 2021
Spread from surface contact is very rare--in fact, it's hard to find a clearly documented case. This is in part because people who get sick often have multiple possible exposures, so keep washing your hands. But if it were easy to spread that way contact tracing would show unambiguously that it was happening.
Just washing hands is fine IMHO. I think the CDC is trustworthy on this one.
posted by mark k at 8:38 AM on January 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
Just washing hands is fine IMHO. I think the CDC is trustworthy on this one.
posted by mark k at 8:38 AM on January 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
I have no interest in telling anyone, much less a cancer patient, that it is ok to lower their covid protocols. Everyone has their own unique set of circumstances their own risk tolerance. What I can safely say is that changing clothes and taking a shower, a definite inconvenience, cannot hurt. You've come this far. Why change now? At what price expediency?
posted by AugustWest at 8:48 AM on January 28, 2021
posted by AugustWest at 8:48 AM on January 28, 2021
I've had plenty of trips to a cancer center in the past year and no one ever suggested either a shower or a change of clothes.
posted by SemiSalt at 10:05 AM on January 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by SemiSalt at 10:05 AM on January 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
Best answer: This New York Times article explains why COVID-19 on clothing isn't a huge issue. Here's the meat of it:
Should I change my clothes and shower when I come home from the grocery store?
For most of us who are practicing social distancing and making only occasional trips to the grocery store or pharmacy, experts agree that it’s not necessary to change clothes or take a shower when you return home. You should, however, always wash your hands. While it’s true that a sneeze or cough from an infected person can propel viral droplets and smaller particles through the air, most of them will drop to the ground.
Studies show that some small viral particles could float in the air for about half an hour, but they don’t swarm like gnats and are unlikely to collide with your clothes. “A droplet that is small enough to float in air for a while also is unlikely to deposit on clothing because of aerodynamics,” said Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech. “The droplets are small enough that they’ll move in the air around your body and clothing.”
...So, if you’re out shopping and somebody sneezes on you, you probably do want to go home, change and shower. But the rest of the time, take comfort that your slow-moving body is pushing air and viral particles away from your clothes, a result of simple physics.
posted by thebots at 10:31 AM on January 28, 2021 [12 favorites]
Should I change my clothes and shower when I come home from the grocery store?
For most of us who are practicing social distancing and making only occasional trips to the grocery store or pharmacy, experts agree that it’s not necessary to change clothes or take a shower when you return home. You should, however, always wash your hands. While it’s true that a sneeze or cough from an infected person can propel viral droplets and smaller particles through the air, most of them will drop to the ground.
Studies show that some small viral particles could float in the air for about half an hour, but they don’t swarm like gnats and are unlikely to collide with your clothes. “A droplet that is small enough to float in air for a while also is unlikely to deposit on clothing because of aerodynamics,” said Linsey Marr, an aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech. “The droplets are small enough that they’ll move in the air around your body and clothing.”
...So, if you’re out shopping and somebody sneezes on you, you probably do want to go home, change and shower. But the rest of the time, take comfort that your slow-moving body is pushing air and viral particles away from your clothes, a result of simple physics.
posted by thebots at 10:31 AM on January 28, 2021 [12 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:35 AM on January 28, 2021 [1 favorite]