Health experts around the world are asking people to avoid getting together for winter holidays as the coronavirus continues to spread. Despite this, many Americans still plan to see their loved ones this year. In fact, a survey by Cinch Home Services found that more than 60 percent of people say they still plan to attend a vacation meeting in 2020. So, if you are meeting for the holidays in COVID, experts say there is a thing you need to be bringing with you to other people’s homes: your own utensils. Read on to find out why it makes a significant difference, and for more guidance on how to stay safe, it takes a long time to get COVID in a room with someone who owns it.
“Bringing your own dinnerware can help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus and other germs,” says Jenna Liphart Rhoads, PhD, nurse and medical education consultant at Nurse Together.
Of course, this advice may seem confusing, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) previously reported that contracting surface coronavirus was less likely than close contact airborne transmission. But while this is true, utensils make the virus easier to spread by contact with the surface because they are touched and placed directly in the mouth.
“Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that food handling or eating is associated with the direct spread of COVID-19,” explains the CDC. “It is possible that a person can obtain COVID-19 by touching a surface or object, including food, food packaging or utensils that contain the virus and then touching their own mouth, nose or possibly their eyes.”
The CDC also highlights the dangers of shared utensils in its winter vacation collection guidance. In this case, they ask people to limit contact with commonly touched surfaces, such as serving utensils, and to consider single-use utensils. And in its previous Thanksgiving guide, the CDC specifically asked collectors to “bring [their] own food, drinks, dishes, glasses and utensils. “
According to Rhoads, you must bring your own utensils in a protected cover, such as a plastic bag. This will limit the ability of someone’s contaminated particles to fall into their utensils when they are breathing, coughing or talking. And it’s not like this is an unreal scenario either. Ava Williams, MD, a primary care physician at Doctor Spring, says the “risk of cross-contamination is greatest during meetings when there are shared food dishes, buffet arrangements or even sharing cutlery.”
On December 11, the governor of New York Andrew Cuomo presented contact tracking data that revealed that 74% of COVID cases from September to November were the result of private meetings in people’s homes. This source of infection was almost 10 times greater than the second leading cause of COVID cases, the provision of health services.
“You go into the house, take off your mask because you are eating and drinking, and you do not realize that there may be someone you know who you love and who is perfectly fine, with no symptoms and yet was infected in the community and brought to that little meeting that you is now having at your home, ” Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), warned in a conversation with Cuomo on December 7.
While meeting with loved ones is an opportunity that some are not willing to miss, it is highly recommended to do everything you can to make this risky activity safer. To find out more ways the CDC says you can make winter holiday celebrations a little safer, read on, and if you’re worried about getting sick, this common feeling could be a sign that you have COVID, doctors warn .
Don’t show up at someone else’s house without a mask, says the CDC. Not only that, but your mask should also have two or more layers, be worn over the nose and mouth and fit comfortably on the sides of the face. And for more help with facial coverings, wearing this mask may be worse than not wearing a mask, says the study.
Even if you are going to spend more time with your loved ones, keeping your distance is extremely important. The CDC reminds people that they are more likely to obtain or spread COVID when they are in close contact with others for a total of 15 minutes or more. The only people you should be within five feet of are the people who live in your home. And for the most up-to-date information, subscribe to our daily newsletter.
If you can have your meeting away, the CDC encourages that. However, since it is winter, this may be unlikely. For internal meetings, they recommend that you try to “bring fresh air by opening windows and doors”. And as for other ways you are not protecting yourself, if you don’t have it in your home, you are at a greater risk of contracting COVID.
This precaution may not be the one you think about, but it also comes straight from the CDC. According to the organization, keeping the background music at a low volume during meetings will help guests avoid singing or shouting – which can increase the potential for the virus to spread from person to person. And to learn more about the spread of the coronavirus, look at the severity of the COVID outbreak in your state.