Can You Get the Coronavirus From a Public Bathroom?
If the thought of using a public restroom makes you nervous, read on for tips from a biocontainment expert on how to minimize COVID-19 risk.
As stay-at-home restrictions lift and you begin figuring out whether it’s okay to resume certain pre-pandemic activities — eating at a restaurant, visiting a hair salon, having a picnic with friends in the park — one thing is certain: When you’re out and about, at some point you’ll need to use a bathroom.
But how safe is it to visit public restrooms? And if you do go, how can you minimize your risk of becoming infected with the novel coronavirus, or spreading it to others if you don’t know you’re infected?
For advice, Everyday Health spoke with Jade Flinn, RN, a nurse educator in the biocontainment unit at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
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Are There Any Special Precautions for Using a Public Restroom?
Flinn says minimizing infection risk in a public bathroom comes down to using the same hygiene measures you should be practicing in any public environment.
It’s all about “the three pillars: hand hygiene, physical distancing [staying at least six feet away from other people; also called social distancing], and masking when you can,” Flinn says. “They don’t work independently; they are really synergistic.”
While it’s possible to contract COVID-19 by touching a contaminated surface, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes, this is not the main mode of transmission — close person-to-person exposure is, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Still, says Flinn, it’s best to make as little contact as possible with surfaces many other people have touched. For instance, “After you wash your hands, those hands are clean, so you should use a paper towel — a different towel from the one you used to dry with — to open the door, then just pop it in the bin,” she says.
Can You Get Infected by Particles That Come Out of a Toilet When You Flush?
Many infectious disease specialists believe the risk of contracting the coronavirus by breathing aerosolized particles from a flush (known as toilet plume) is low to negligible.
Still, wearing a mask is a prudent move, Flinn says. You also should be considerate of others by closing the toilet lid before you flush, she adds; just be sure to grip it with a clean piece of toilet paper instead of your bare hands.
If There Are Other People in a Public Bathroom, Should You Wait Before Going In?
“If there are more than three or four people in a bathroom that has around four stalls, I would probably wait outside a bit in order to practice social distancing,” says Flinn.
Just as you want to feel safe in a shared space, others do, too.
Plus, if you’re waiting in line to use the bathroom, remember to stand six feet apart.
Should You Worry About Contaminating Personal Items Like Your Handbag?
Ask yourself, “If I’m going to the toilet, do I need to bring my whole handbag with me, or can I bring just what I need to use in there?” Flinn suggests.
It’s easy to forget how easily items like handbags or carry-ons can pick up or transfer contaminants. “We put them on the floor, then on the table, or on the bed, or on the counter, and we don’t typically inspect the outside. Or we don’t realize that we’re dipping into our bags when we have dirty hands,” says Flinn.
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Is Using Hand Dryers Dangerous in the COVID-19 Era?
A widely cited University of Connecticut study, published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology in 2018, found that hand dryers in a public restroom blow toilet plume around. While there’s no evidence yet that inhaling those particles can cause COVID-19, avoiding dryers is a wise idea.
“When the dryer turns on, it’s blowing all that around, and that possibly dirtier plume might be getting onto your now clean hands,” says Flinn.
To dry your hands, she says, “Honestly, the best way is to use paper towels.”
Can You Catch the Coronavirus From a Toilet Seat?
Sitting on a contaminated toilet seat is not a known risk factor for coronavirus infection. But it’s important to keep your hands away from your face after touching the seat.
What if you enter a stall and discover that the seat’s wet? “We have to be a bit more judicious, especially if we’re sitting down with our bare skin,” says Flinn, but she notes that any risk likely has less to do with COVID-19 than with other kinds of infections.
“My mom always said you should put toilet paper or a paper seat cover on the toilet,” says Flinn, “and ‘hovering’ is definitely a practice some people are familiar with.” If doing the latter, be careful not to sprinkle the seat yourself by accident.
“If there is a device that will make you feel safe, make sure you’re practicing the same level of public hygiene that we should all be practicing,” says Flinn. “Ask yourself, how are you storing and disposing of those devices?” If you decide to use one, remember to clean your hands afterward.
“I think everyone’s level of perceived risk and of feeling safe is different,” says Flinn, but the three safety pillars remain the same and bear repeating: hand hygiene, social distancing, and masks.
Because if we start slacking off, Flinn adds, “we’ll have to go back into quarantine.”