Fact-checking the CDC’s new guidance: you should still disinfect packages

Josh CentersContributor - May 26, 2020

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) began a puzzling media push to minimize the risks of catching COVID-19 from touching packages or surf
[See the full post at: Fact-checking the CDC’s new guidance: you should still disinfect packages]

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Yeah, when I saw those headlines I checked the CDC’s site and found they did not substantially change their advice.

I wonder though if at some point they got evidence that some people thought that the risk from surfaces was the same as the risk from close contact with someone else. I can just imagine some confused individual thinking that restaurant delivery carries the exact same risk as eating in.

 

My 5 ct to CDC is that we should not consider risk as yes or no. I like the more recent statements by epidemiologists about High and low risk activities and reminding people about TIME being a factor. Outside drinking tea with a neighbor is more risky than walking outside, and both are less risky than doing anything together inside. So, its ok to not wear a mask when in a park or biking if there are few people, and people should stop complaining about it. Similarly, the idea of getting infected from groceries is not zero but low.

I used to wipe down the groceries or even left them in the car for 24 hours – fine in March when the garage was the same temp as our fridge, but not possible now. I am now longer wiping down any, but do wash my hands after shopping, before putting them away, and again after putting them away.

We all need to learn to think about risk as a quantity, not a yes or no. But CDC tries to put it into quick sound bites that then come across as yes or no.