On 28 April 2020, New Zealand entered COVID-19 alert level 3. Our courts will gradually and safely re-open to more essential staff, lawyers, and public. We all assume that we judges are sensibly balanced and so know the outer limits of a scale that runs from washing then hanging a file to dry in the sun on the back of a chambers chair. That’s neurotic and the lycra clad who now pound the pavements sharing an eight-metre spray in their slipstream, well, that’s just gross!
So apart from endless scrubbing and handwashing what are we to do to sit safe as we enter alert level 3 and lower. I put some questions to our COVID coach Dr Robin Griffiths. He first sounds an important note of caution.
Dr Robin Griffiths: I don’t want to rain on your celebrations, but it’s too early for a victory parade. Reverting to level 3 is an experiment and will involve greater uncertainty than we had in level 4. Most pandemics have a second wave (and often third and fourth). We were very lucky in our first wave — most cases could be easily identified because they were related to travel, occupation (airline pilots and healthcare workers), rest home occupancy, and eventually contacts of clusters. As a result, there has been minimal community transmission in New Zealand to date, unlike most other countries.
As people go back to work, we enlarge our bubbles and become more mobile again. There is a much greater element of uncertainty. The real issue is the transmission of COVID-19 by people who have no or mild symptoms, or who are pre-symptomatic. We know that people shed the virus up to three days prior to the onset of symptoms, and we now understand that shedding may continue long after recovery. We know that there will be more cases and clusters, but in the second wave, these will be more random and harder to identify. People will be moving around the community while infected with the virus and potentially infecting others. Spain, who were late to sustain severe pandemic outbreaks, started with a “superspreader incident” involving just one person. It’s not if we have more cases, it’s when.
We need to regard every person outside our bubble, and everything that they have touched, as a potential source of infection. As judges, you encounter high-risk individuals; police, corrections staff, the homeless, and healthcare workers are all more likely to be exposed to infection. It’s important to remember that most judges are in the age bracket where the risk of more serious symptoms and respiratory failure is starting to increase. And finally, the big killer of older people (usually 500 each year) is influenza. Social distancing has been shown to not only “flatten the Covid curve”, but also to reduce influenza deaths in Northern Hemisphere countries in lockdown. We must be very careful not to fall back into our old habits outside our bubbles.
JANZ: Some people are spraying newspapers. Is this ridiculous? What about court plastic files, court documents, and parcels we receive at home by courier? Do we need to leave them in quarantine for 24 hours?
While there is no evidence so far that newspapers are a source of the virus, washing your hands after reading the newspaper is probably sensible. Ideally, wear gloves when handling court plastic files and documents, and remove your gloves and wash your hands thoroughly before touching your face, eating, or drinking. Open courier packs and dispose of the wrapper. Treat the contents as potentially infected, but just wash your hands after handling them.
When I come in after being at the shops, should I take off my clothes and/or wash them? Should everything be at 60°C now?
We know from scientific experiments that the virus can live on steel and plastics for up to three days under ideal conditions. It can live for a shorter period on absorbent surfaces like cardboard. Less is known about its survival on fabrics. It’s probable that the fabric dries and kills any viral contamination quite quickly. If you’re careful at the shops and other public places and sanitise trolley handles you might come into contact with, there shouldn’t be significant contamination. However, brushing past someone who is coughing or talking might transfer the virus. It is a wise precaution to change out of “public area” clothes as soon as you come home, wash items that might have been contaminated, and hang out to air in the sun. Laundry powder and washing cycles at 60°C or greater are effective at killing the virus. Then wash your hands thoroughly in a warm soap lather.
What is the risk of the virus lingering on hair or beards after being out and about? Some people shower to get rid of pollen — is this a good idea for viruses?
Again, no one knows. At first, we thought that the virus was only spread by droplet spread (coughing and sneezing) or by fomites (objects). As we develop better data, there is increasing evidence of spreading by aerosol dispersal (from talking, breathing, or sighing) over significant distances, and remaining suspended for up to an hour. If you have been around other people, even if they are not coughing or sneezing, wash your hands thoroughly and then wash your face and any facial hair. Wash your hands before applying or removing make-up, or shaving, too.
When bringing home food shopping do we need to disinfect each item? What about paper/cans/plastic, are there different rules?
There is increasing evidence that the virus could be spread by the faecal-oral route, although almost all infections have been by contagion (touch) or inhalation. The US FDA says that there is no evidence that supermarket items carry the virus. We use a garden spray atomiser to lightly spray all wrapped and canned items, which are then left to dry. We rinse all fruit and vegetables. Then we wash the benchtop down and put the shopping bags outside in the sun.
What about freezing or sunlight — can they be used to kill the virus?
Freezing preserves the virus. Labs store stocks of viruses frozen. This is not a reason to avoid frozen food, which is still low risk. Sunlight generally kills it by drying, and ultraviolet UV light is used commercially to sterilise foodstuffs. You would need to be careful that any sunlight doesn’t warm your food to the extent that it causes deterioration or allows bacterial growth. Sunlight is a good way to sterilise clothing, though.
At the shops is it OK to use shared baskets and trolleys or should we sanitise ourselves?
Most supermarkets are sanitising trolley handles, but you should regard everything in the supermarket as potentially having been touched by someone infected. The virus doesn’t enter through the skin, so just don’t touch your face, eat, or drink until you have had the chance to wash your hands thoroughly. It pays to have some alcohol wipes/gel or 10% bleach in the car to clean your hands before you touch the steering wheel and gear shift.
What about exercise? Some studies suggest that the virus carries farther than we imagined in the air. How far is a reasonable distance to keep apart from others if you are running?
Ideally, run or cycle on your own. Talking while running or panting can spread droplets or aerosols up to eight metres. The virus doesn’t seem to live well outside in well-ventilated areas, but while the social distance measure has dropped to one metre in Level 3, maintain at least two metres from other people, runners, and pedestrians alike.
Do we need to wipe down or clean the dog or cat?
Veterinarians in the UK are recommending that cats are kept inside because they can develop COVID-19 infections, or carry the virus on their fur if touched by an infected person. The coronavirus is less of a hazard than other parasites and bacteria carried by pets, and observing the normal precaution of washing your hands after contact with any animal is quite adequate.
How far are we from being able to test the surfaces of our homes ourselves? Is this science fiction?
You can, but this would need special equipment that few people have. More importantly, you shouldn’t. Firstly, because you need to treat all surfaces where there is the potential for virus contamination from outside your bubble as being infected. Testing one minute doesn’t protect against future ingress of contamination. Secondly, the medical profession is currently struggling with what the presence of viral RNA means in terms of infection threat. The PCR test detects RNA from the virus, and not a live virus. The RNA is still present long after the virus itself is dead.
Do I need to use alcohol sanitiser after I have cleaned my food items with 10% bleach or washed my hands?
It’s not in any way necessary. Washing your hands thoroughly with a soapy lather in warm water is actually more effective than using alcohol wipes or gels. Using 10% bleach sprays or wipes is very effective, and actively kills the virus. Most detergents and cleaners kill the virus very effectively — the US Environmental Protection Agency published a list of approved cleaners, which are mostly based on hypochlorite (bleach), peroxide (oxygen bleach) or quaternary ammonium compounds.