As fear of the virus rises again, should you avoid public toilets?

Although the number of coronavirus cases in India has significantly decreased now, but since last few days, there has been a growing global concern again, due to the emergence of the new variant, omicron. After the lockdown was lifted, people started pondering over the fact that whether it is okay to resume certain pre-pandemic activities — eating at a restaurant, visiting a hair salon, having a picnic with friends etc. But one thing is certain: when people are out for long hours, at some point, using a bathroom becomes a necessity. And now, as people have started going to office in many parts of the country, enjoying parties or vacation, many restaurants and shopping malls are also open, they’re finding themselves with no choice but to occasionally use public toilets. So how risky is it really? Earlier, there was a study published in the year 2020 in the journal Physics of Fluids, that claims, that the simple act of flushing can force as much as 60% of produced aerosols, which could be potentially infectious, high above the toilet seat (a phenomenon known as “toilet plume"). Another study published in the same journal states that the result is quite similar in the case of urinals as well — in fact, the tiny particles were able to rise even at a faster rate than when they were flushed from a toilet. What we can suggest is that it’s better to put down the toilet seat, if possible, before flushing. Many a times, we find after entering into a public toilet that the toilet seat is wet - if possible, one can carry wipes into the bathroom and even safer option is to wipe off the toilet seat before sitting down on it. Apart from the scientific facts, when it is a public toilet, we come across a most common scenario – sometimes there’s a long queue and everyone’s standing around talking, yes that’s definitely another risk of going to a public toilet. It’s better to avoid those sorts of situations. Another problem of public toilet is poor ventilation and poor or no ventilation can result in maximum aerosol concentration. It’s best for us to ensure that we make as little contact as possible with surfaces many other people have touched. 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. Sometimes, women carry their handbags in the toilet, they have to be more cautious, after washing hands, they need to sanitize the handbag as well, because that too, was exposed to potentially risky environment of the public toilet. People should follow COVID appropriate behaviour even while using public toilets like wearing a proper three-layered face mask before entering a public toilet. Washing hands after using the public toilet, sanitizing as much as possible after coming out of the public toilet is a must. One can consider using glass as well to protect the eyes as well if possible. While it’s a fact that despite maintaining all of these precautions, no one can guarantee the fact that the risk of getting transmitted with the virus from a public toilet is zero – but all we can ensure is that we minimize the potential risk factors. It’s all about the three pillars: hand hygiene, social distancing [try and maintain at least six feet distance from other people] and using masks as much as possible. Lastly, although cases are being reported now is much lower than what it was, earlier, still we would urge people try not to use public restrooms until there’s some urgency. The writer is the Additional Director & HOD – Pulmonology, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.