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Hallberg's Picture of Health
Tom Crann and Dr. Jon Hallberg
St. Paul

CDC says advice on surface spread of COVID-19 hasn't changed

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is clarifying its guidance on the transmission of COVID-19 in an effort to clear up confusion over whether a person can get the disease by touching contaminated surfaces.

The agency told NPR that "usability improvements” on its webpage prompted news articles that the guidelines changed.

“It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes. This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about how this virus spreads,” the CDC webpage now says.

Dr. Jon Hallberg, medical director of the University of Minnesota Physicians Mill City Clinic, said the possible transmission method was just “deprioritized” on the website. The main form of transmission has always been person to person. 

“It was simply a little movement on the website and suddenly everyone is aware of this happening,” he said.

Hallberg encouraged everyone to still take necessary precautions to stay safe while out in public and disinfecting surfaces that get plenty of unique encounters.

“I think that high-touch things — doorknobs, faucets, if you're getting your gas — you're touching things that many people have touched, washing your hands, disinfecting those surfaces all make a lot of sense,” he said. “It's common sense.”

Click the audio player above to hear more of Hallberg’s interview on All Things Considered