The CDC Shifts Stance For COVID Spread On Surfaces and Objects

The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes "ignorant" as:

"1a: destitute of knowledge or educationan ignorant societyalso : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specifiedparents ignorant of modern mathematics
b: resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligenceignorant errors

2: UNAWARE, UNINFORMED"

One of the biggest issues with the COVID-19 outbreak across the world has been the fact that we are ignorant about the virus and disease it brings with it. That's not a demeaning term, as the definition states, we just don't know.

However, for the last few months, scientists and doctors have been studying the virus and disease to uncover every ounce of knowledge we can about our invisible enemy. Over a month ago, a team of German scientists and researchers started releasing information that they had gathered during a major study on one of their country's hardest hit cities. Inside that research, the lead scientist, Professor Hendrik Streeck, was critical of the stance the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization, held on the spread of COVID-19 through surfaces. Streeck didn't believe that COVID infections were easily spread from surfaces, which was something the CDC and WHO strongly pushed at the time.

But this week, the CDC has backed off that belief. According to currently CDC publications, they now believe the virus does NOT spread easily on surfaces. From the CDC's website, they now describe surface transmission under the headline:

"The virus does not spread easily in other ways"

The CDC goes on to explain that they still believe it is possible for the virus to spread on surfaces, but it has brought down its emphasis on the subject. They now list person-to-person transmission as their only main factor. Their quote of how this happens is a little interesting. Here's what they have posted on their site of how transmission works:

"Through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks.These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs."

This is progress in the fight against the disease and its unintended consequences. The more information we can gather, the more we can understand what the virus is actually doing, how it's spread, and what measures actually work against it, and what doesn't. This now puts us in a position where reacting to the data is going to be our biggest obstacle. In early March, major sports organizations, businesses, and states shut everything down with very little information. Now that we have more, we should be just as fast to act to fix mistakes we may have made along the way.