Michigan Health Department To Athletes: Never Mind CDC, Wipe Those Surfaces

The latest guidance for athletics from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services retains detailed rules for preventing the spread of the coronavirus through human contact with surfaces.

This comes even after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has acknowledged there is an extremely low risk of spreading the virus through contact.

The new Michigan guidance for organized sports, as of May 4, states:

“Clean and Disinfect Often

• Ensure enough time between each practice or competition to allow for proper cleaning and disinfection of the facilities and shared equipment.

• Ensure adequate supplies to support healthy hygiene practices for participants, spectators, and employees, including soap, hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol content, paper towels, and tissues.

• Identify an adult staff member or volunteer to ensure proper cleaning and disinfection of objects and equipment, particularly for any shared equipment or frequently touched surfaces.

• When disinfecting, use products that meet EPA’s criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2 and that are appropriate for the surface. Prior to wiping the surface, allow the disinfectant to sit for the necessary contact time recommended by the manufacturer. Train staff on proper cleaning procedures to ensure safe and correct application of disinfectants.

• Provide individual disinfectant wipes in bathrooms.”

The CDC stated on April 5: “Findings of these studies suggest that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection via the fomite transmission route is low, and 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.”