COVID-19 Infection Case Found in Public Restroom in Beijing

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] COVID-19 infection cases have been reported not at the Xinfadi Market, a wholesale agricultural and aquatic products market in Beijing, but in a public restroom.

On the 26th, China's BTV reported that among the COVID-19 confirmed cases diagnosed on the 20th, two individuals used a public restroom on Yongdinglu in Haidian District and were confirmed to have been infected with the virus there.

The two confirmed cases, who are a married couple, had never been to Xinfadi Market nor had direct contact with infected individuals. However, epidemiological investigations revealed that they had previously visited the public restroom on Yongdinglu, which had appeared four times in the movement paths of previous infected individuals. The public restroom visited by the confirmed cases is known to be very dark and cramped. Currently, the location is sealed off and disinfection has already been completed.

Wu Zunyou, Chief Epidemiologist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, explained, "The COVID-19 spreading in Beijing is not due to transmission from wild animals," adding, "It is caused by contamination or transmission from already infected people."

Several scientists have already presented research findings indicating that when toilet water is flushed, the virus can spread through the air, making COVID-19 infection possible. When a COVID-19 infected person flushes the toilet, water contaminated with the virus rises in gaseous form and remains in the air long enough to be inhaled by people.

In February, two residents living on the same line in an apartment in Hong Kong were consecutively infected with COVID-19, raising the possibility of virus transmission through pipes. Subsequently, the Chinese government acknowledged the possibility of transmission via aerosols. A joint study led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also confirmed that the COVID-19 virus can survive in aerosol form for up to three hours.