I am not sure where to ask my question so sorry to do it here. I was wondering the same thing, my husband works in other peoples homes all the time and I am terrified he is going to bring covid into our yard or home on his shoes or clothes. Do you think it can survive outside in the sun in our yard?
I'm just going to say no. They've now proven that covid 19 mostly passes person to person through air droplets we breathe in. I do still hand sanitize and hand wash but the fear of hands is that they touch our face, nose, eyes and mouth. NONE of which I touch with my foot. I think it would be highly unlikely to bring in covid on your foot (and are we talking bare feet here? Like why is covid on the street or grass? this seems illogical to me) into your home, then have that transfer to your face/mouth/eyes or nose. There was once thought that surface contamination was more of a risk and I went through a phase of wiping down my groceries, for example, when I had them delivered. This has been debunked. So, I think we have to keep some perspective here.
Good question. It also made me wonder if the virus is present in covid-infected people's urine or feces output? (at any point along the timeline...)
Remember all the talk/studies about those hand air-dryers in public restrooms spreading germs/bacteria? When I am in sandals and use those dryers, which are always aimed at the ground, I definitely 'feel the breeze' on my feet. Those dryers move the air at jet-propelled speed/strength.
If that were really the case it would make sense to throw your clothes in the washer and take a shower after every outside excursion
If the topic of foot hygiene has reached a level that it is actually causing a running argument in your house, I might also add that though the Covid argument doesn't hold water, it isn't unreasonable for one partner to expect the other to have clean feet. The Covid virus won't be tracked in or have fallen on the feet, that's not supported by science. But if someone is tired of looking at someone else's ragged toenails, dirty soles and raspy calluses, well, actually there's nothing unfair about asking a loved one to take care of their craggy feet. Feet should be as well groomed as hands.
If you're wearing shoes, what is there to sanitize even if it were possible to get the virus that way, which it doesn't appear to be? If you were walking around in bare feet, it would make more sense, as there's all kinds of stuff you can walk around in, including animal feces etc., but if you're wearing shoes, your skin isn't actually touching anything but your shoe or your socks. But the above is correct, it really doesn't pass by touching stuff, though we wash our hands because of extra caution and because our hands might get very close to our nose and mouth. Not so much with feet.
The research is showing more clearly all the time that
Covid-19 is a respiratory virus, in other words, transmitted via particles in the air (breathing it in or possibly rubbing it into your respiratory tract via your eye or nose). Maybe somewhere with a known big load of the virus like an ICU might use clean-room techniques that might include walking through a shallow bath to sanitize the bottom of the shoes, but this kind of thing (and foot washing) have not been a recommended home practice. A lot of people do take off their outdoor footwear when they come home to keep the house cleaner in general, but this generally wouldn't be to prevent Covid.