
Don't microwave books to get rid of coronavirus - bookofjoe
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/04/us/dont-microwave-your-library-books-trnd/index.html
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corty
Isn't transmission through objects completely irrelevant anyways? Also,
microwaves don't heat very small dry objects such as viruses, so it is
pointless to microwave books.

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sp332
Lab studies have shown that the virus stays around in recognizable form for
1-3 days depending on temperature, humidity, and porosity. E.g.
[https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973)
I have not heard of any cases of spread via objects and I think it would be a
pretty small fraction, but maybe relatively more risky for a book than other
objects. Lots of people lick their fingers for adhesion when flipping pages.

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lambdaba
Infection requires a certain level of exposure that you're unlikely (I would
say, impossible) to reach merely by touching (unless it's a droplet and you
shove it up your nose or something...).

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sp332
Picking your nose, sure, but also rubbing your eyes or putting your finger on
your lips in a thoughtful gesture.

"Unlikely" is certainly true, but different people have different risk
tolerances. And if it were _really_ as simple as microwaving the book, this
would be pretty reasonable!

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lambdaba
Has there been any proof of infection via eyes?

The virus needs to settle in the airways to reach the level of infection.

I understand people's reaction, it's hard to sort all the messages from the
media & health authorities, but it's still sad that so many have seemingly
abandoned common sense.

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DanBC
This is suggestive that infection may occur via the eyes.

[https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736\(20\)30313-5/fulltext)

> On Jan 22, Guangfa Wang, a member of the national expert panel on pneumonia,
> reported that he was infected by 2019-nCoV during the inspection in Wuhan.2

> He wore an N95 mask but did not wear anything to protect his eyes. Several
> days before the onset of pneumonia, Wang complained of redness of the eyes.
> Unprotected exposure of the eyes to 2019-nCoV in the Wuhan Fever Clinic
> might have allowed the virus to infect the body.2

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ksaj
Redness of the eyes might be related to the blood clots that the virus is
known to trigger.

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ThomasBHickey
The three day book quarantine cited may have come from this study:
[https://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/test1-results.h...](https://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/test1-results.html),
[https://www.webjunction.org/content/dam/WebJunction/Document...](https://www.webjunction.org/content/dam/WebJunction/Documents/webJunction/realm/test1-report.pdf)

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hkai
Please do not microwave your Kindle either. But if you do, film it!

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Shared404
Well, that's one way of kindling a fire.

I second the request for a film if someone decides to do it.

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candiodari
Why not just wait? Virus mantles are incredibly complex molecules, and
therefore ... not very stable.

Just wait. 2 hours ought to do it, so just don't touch them the day they're
returned and then proceed as normal.

Also the odds of a virus infecting you seem very minimal even if you handle a
book with live virus on it.

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eloff
I seem to recall early information saying Sars cov2 can live over a week on
paper / wood. Maybe that's not thought to be the case anymore.

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jasonjayr
I think the crux of the problem is that folks are not trusting authorities
anymore, and information, sometimes conflicting is coming from everywhere. No
single unifying source has appeared to keep folks on common ground, especially
since this is a rapidly changing situation, and what was thought to be true 2
weeks ago is no longer considered true.

Our local library is holding returned items in isolation for 72 hrs before
returning them to general circulation, which seems to be in line with what _I
've_ seen most experts recommend currently.

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ghaff
There's a lot of variation in even well-intentioned "expert" information out
there. And, in any case, people need to make their own risk assessments. I'm
not going to tell you that you're not allowed to literally lock yourself in
your house. But I'm not going to do so (under my and my location's current
conditions).

And not everyone is in a position to independently evaluate from first
principles what precautions are appropriate and which are insufficient,
unhelpful, or excessive.

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tzs
> Reminder that KDL will quarantine returned materials for 72 hours.

That protects you from viruses left on the book by the prior person who
checked it out.

But what about viruses left on the book by people who used the book at the
library but did not check it out?

If you are actually worried about possible transmission via library books, you
would need to do your own quarantine of the book _after_ you check it out
before you start reading it.

Edit: Note that I'm not saying risk of virus transmission via library books is
something you actually need to care about. But some people obviously do think
it is a risk, or we wouldn't be reading a story about people microwaving
library books.

The library is trying to address those (possibly irrational) fears by pointing
out that they quarantine the books when they are returned.

All I'm saying is that if someone fears (however irrationally) getting a virus
from library books, then they are probably going to want the quarantine to
come _between_ them checking out the book and them starting to read the book.

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catalogia
If you're _this_ risk adverse, what are you even doing outside your home in
the first place?

Edit: Do the downvoters earnestly believe the risk of going out in public at
all doesn't dwarf the risk of touching a library book somebody else touched a
day or two ago? The risk of surface contamination is dubious in the first
place, not to mention libraries have a sad tendency to be lightly trafficked.
Meanwhile grocery stores are packed and nobody leaves the pizza box they get
delivered laying around for three days before touching it.

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ghaff
Checking out a library book specifically is almost certainly non-essential.
But I'm sure there are lots of people who are being forced to leave their
houses for various reasons (including earning money to eat) who really do have
this level of concern about getting infected.

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catalogia
I understand that some people have no choice but to leave their homes, but as
you say, getting a library book is almost certainly non-essential. It doesn't
make sense that somebody with such a high level of concern would be spending
more time in public than was strictly required.

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kkarakk
Guess RFID isn't as great as i thought it was...

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chadlavi
My god, people are morons.

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ghaff
Some are. On the other hand, whether it makes you roll your eyes or not, some
people are extremely paranoid about anything entering their house that hasn't
been sterilized in some form. And, given that, zapping a book in a microwave
is not an obviously stupid way to accomplish said sterilization for a random
non-technical person.

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chadlavi
Or just... don't take books out from a public library during a global
pandemic?

What are these public libraries that are even still open? My city's libraries
have been closed for physical books since March.

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mumblemumble
Mine recently re-opened. Now that we've had some time to research how this
virus spreads, and discovered that surface transmission really isn't as big a
deal as we initially feared, I'm not so worried about it.

You can quarantine them for a few days after checking them out, if you like.
Just like mail. Or pizza deliveries.

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sandworm101
Stop leaving your tracking/security devices in my books. They serve no purpose
after the initial sale. Remove them at time of purchase.

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mumblemumble
The article's talking about people accidentally setting fire to _library_
books.

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sandworm101
Ya, but I still hate pealimg them off my own books at home, especially those
bought online. The worst are the thick tags that either cause the hard cover
not to shut properly or leave an impression in soft covers.

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akerl_
Sure, but disliking tags on books you buy online is pretty unrelated to the
actual story.

