Your pandemic questions answered — Sudbury Health Unit weighs in on COVID-19 concerns

During this pandemic, have you come across a situation and wondered — is this okay?

It sounds simple: stay home as much as you can, and when you're out, stay two metres away from people. But we've been living with COVID-19 for more than a month, and people continue to have questions about how to best stop the spread of the virus and protect themselves.

CBC Sudbury's Morning North radio show host Markus Schwabe took your questions this week and put them to Burgess Hawkins, manager of environmental health for Public Health Sudbury and Districts.

Q: Should I be using hot water to wash my clothing?

A: "I think that the cold water should be sufficient. Hot water is better simply because the heat can help kill off some of the virus. But really, what you're doing is trying to remove the virus from the clothes and wash them down the drain. So the cold water should be sufficient.

Q: How do you properly disinfect an N95 mask?

A: Most N95 masks are single use. They're not designed to be disinfected. I'm not even sure that you can disinfect it because it would start to break down the fibres and then it wouldn't work as well.

Q: Where can I get reusable masks?

A: Check around on websites like Kijiji. There are people who are making them and giving them away. There are people who are making them and selling them. I don't happen to have a specific person you could contact for that, but if you check the web there are lots of places out there.The Public Health Sudbury and Districts web site has directions on how to make cloth masks. And the CDC has directions, as well. There are 25 different patterns you can use and they're all very simple.

Q: What's the best way to practice physical distancing in a taxi?

A: If you have to take a taxi, I would definitely suggest staying as far away as possible. I would not suggest loading up a whole bunch of people in a standard car. I would suggest one passenger ... who would be on the passenger side in the rear ... to maximize your distance. Taxis are considered an essential service. This would be a great place for wearing a cloth mask. I'm unaware of any standards for taxis [that cab drivers must follow]. From a risk perspective, I would suggest one [passenger per cab ride] — maybe two at maximum, if you know the person.

Q: We have children playing out in our yard and the neighborhood dogs will often come over and visit. Is there any danger from a high-risk family having their dog play with you or coming into contact with children or adults.

A: I am unaware of the spread between dogs and humans. On the flip side, after they play with the dogs, I would definitely suggest washing their hands. You don't know who the dogs have seen previously. You want to make sure they don't put their face into the coat of the dog, like rub their face into the fur. Dogs are a bit of an unknown entity, because you don't know where they've been. So for maximum safety, I would say that they shouldn't play with the dogs at all.

Q: What if I'm in a lineup and people are smoking? Is the COVID-19 virus carried in smoke?

A: The smoke itself shouldn't have the virus in it. The virus is spread by droplets, so it shouldn't end up in something as fine as the smoke. Now, I haven't seen anything that has indicated there's a risk of transmission through the cigarette smoke. In Sudbury you are not allowed to smoke within 10 feet of a building. There is a bylaw for that. If you are running into an issue like that, we'll definitely go in and take a look at it, and we'll talk to the store. We've done that in a couple of cases where people have been smoking right up to the doors.

Q: How often should people be going to the grocery store?

A: We definitely promote not taking unnecessary trips to the grocery store. Buy a week's worth of groceries. [That way] you're not getting that social interaction with people who are who are also shopping. If you're doing the week's groceries ...  that's obviously better than coming in for just one item.

Q: Does the health unit follow up with people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 to make sure they are sticking to the rules of isolation?

A:  When we get positive cases for COVID-19, these people are called frequently during their isolation time [by nurses]. We try to find out what they're doing, and we are telling them that they can't go out, they can't interact with people. [If you are concerned about a particular issue], you can always give us a call and we will follow up. People in households with positive cases are also asked to isolate themselves. All the people that are deemed close contacts for the case are contacted by the health unit. It doesn't have to only be family. If it's someplace else, we contact them as well