Taiwan’s number of COVID-19 cases has increased over the past week. The government’s prevention information strongly promotes masks and hand hygiene, and recommends that alcohol sanitizers or other disinfectants be sprayed on clothes after returning home.
However, there is one widely overlooked source of infection: mobile phones. They should also be disinfected and their use restricted.
Over the past few days, many COVID-19 testing stations have been set up, with people lining up. Everyone has their temperature taken and they wear masks, but during the wait, they never stop playing with their smartphones.
The same happens on public transportation, with people heedless about what they have touched.
The virus can be transferred to a phone from unwashed hands, so using a device after returning home without first disinfecting it is a concerning infection risk.
Studies have shown that viruses remain on phones longer than on clothes, and that more than 50 percent of viral infections are transmitted via the hands, potentially turning phones into virus carriers.
An infection can potentially occur if a hand that just touched a phone goes to the face or food.
People generally are not in the habit of disinfecting phones. They just put them in their pocket or bag after they have finished using them.
Even in the middle of a pandemic, when people diligently sanitize their hands, they forget their phones. Once they arrive home, they might be infected via a virus-laden device.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, people must not let their phones become a source of infection.
The government should provide more information about phone disinfection and instruct people to lower the risks by taking into account the potential infection route their phones create.
Furthermore, people should be careful about using their phones on public transportation and in other busy places, and remember to disinfect them if they do.
Lu Chien-chi is chairman of the Taiwan Philosophical Counseling Association.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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