CDC: Risk of getting COVID-19 from surfaces is low

Editor's Note

In a science brief based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) analysis of the latest available data, the agency says the risk of getting COVID-19 from surfaces “is generally considered to be low.”

The CDC noted that:

• The risk of COVID-19 infection via surface transmission is generally less than 1 in 10,000, which means that each contact with a contaminated surface has less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of causing an infection.
• Hand hygiene can substantially reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission from contaminated surfaces, but surface disinfection once- or twice-per-day has little impact on reducing risks.
• An appropriate situation for cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces would be an indoor environment where a case of COVID-19 had been confirmed or suspected within the last 24 hours.