Experiment shows how easily a virus can spread through areas such as food buffets

An experiment conducted in Japan has shown how easily a virus can spread though contact scenarios, particularly buffets.

The experiment, conducted by NHK, a Japanese broadcasting agency, in collaboration with infectious disease experts, used fluorescent pain to show how easily a virus can spread in situations where multiple people are touching the same surfaces.

The experience focused on a buffet scenario – a common setting on cruise ships where people have thought to have contracted coronavirus. 

Cruise ships are said to have caused the spread of infection due to contact infections, and are believed to have occurred at buffet venues where many people gather.

The experience involved 10 participants, one of whom was designated as an infected person, and with the assumption that the cough was suppressed by hand, a fluorescent paint was applied to the palm.

The participants then enjoyed a buffet for 30 minute after which time a special light was applied to check where the paint had spread.

The paint, which glowed when the light was applied, was found to have spread to the hands of all the participants.

It was spread through the lid of the container holding the food, tongs separating the food, and the handle of the drink container.

In an alternative experiment using measures to protect against infection, the dishes were separated, tongs replaced frequently, and customers were encouraged to clean their hands frequently.

The paint was not found to have attached to any of the participants in this scenario. 

Professor Hiroyuki Kunishima of St. Marianna University School of Medicine said, "A place where the unspecified majority can easily touch is called a high-touch surface, and it is lurking in danger".