Ncstatefan01 said:
Does this story give anyone on here any pause? Basically a fit 42 year old virus doc (who is regularly on the Today show) flew home to New Orleans wearing a mask and gloves. Still contracted covid and thinks it was through his eyes. Ended up in ICU after a week and is doing better. Also, tested negative four times for covid. The contraction through the eyes and also the negative tests made me stop and think.
https://www.today.com/video/dr-joseph-fair-best-guess-is-i-got-coronavirus-through-my-eyes-83456069750
We know virus' can be transmitted through the eyes, so not out of the area of possibility. Also, we know being in confined spaces with little air movement increases the transmission levels. Masks are not 100% and neither are the wearing of gloves. Most people wearing gloves are doing it wrong - including the workers in the stores.
Here's the deal on gloves - once the glove comes in contact with any surface, you have to assume it is contaminated. For example, if a cashier in a store is touching packages as they pass them over the pricing scanner, you can assume contaminants are now on the surface of the glove. Once the cashier touches another surface or more packages for another customer, they can transfer the contaminate to the new surface. Unless you are changing gloves after every interaction, the gloves are not protecting the customer. They are only protecting the wearer of the gloves. Additionally, if the cashier touches any portion of their body not covered by a glove or the outside of their mask, they can transfer contaminate to those surfaces.
What do I do? When I leave a store and get to my car, I remove my mask (if I am wearing one - grabbing the straps and not the surface of the mask) and then I clean my hands with hand sanitizer. I do these things before touching my steering wheel or other surfaces in the car. When I open doors, I use either my sleeve covering my hand or the bottom of my shirt. Is it 100% protection? No. Does it give me some percentage of protection? Yes. My philosophy - Everything in life has risks and it is my responsibility to protect myself.
As far testing, we do know they are not 100%. In particular, the Abbott Labs quick test has a very high false negative percentage. So depending on the tests the doctor received, it is possible the tests were in error. Additionally, we know a test is only good for the point in time. The current tests depend on collecting enough viral material in the sample to be enough for testing. If the area sampled does not carry enough of a sample of the virus, it is possible it will be undetected.