Saskatoon mechanic wants people to be 'more diligent' about possible COVID-19 contamination when dropping off their cars
A Saskatoon mechanic believes he caught COVID-19 earlier this month by entering and working in vehicles “littered” with used face masks.
However, an expert says that transmission from contaminated surfaces is “very low risk.”
Michael Ross has been a mechanic for 30 years and works at the Canadian Tire on Confederation Drive. He’s asking the public to be more aware of the conditions inside their vehicles when they’re dropped off for servicing.
“There’s coffee cups, there’s cigarette butts, there’s wrappers and not to mention … now we’ve got these used masks all over the place, hanging from the rearview mirror, off the signal, shift, sitting on the seats, they’re just strewn everywhere,” Ross told CTV News while in isolation at home.
Ross says leaving used masks inside vehicles during a pandemic puts mechanics at risk. After having symptoms for a couple of days, he took a rapid test and tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 10.
‘It really freaked me right out. I’m double vaccinated but now I’m in self-quarantine and being off work for five days, almost a full week, does put a damper on my pocketbook,” he said.
Ross says people leaving garbage and used masks in their vehicles is “not acceptable.” He says two or three other colleagues of his have also tested positive for COVID-19.
“We don’t know if they had it and it does put a bit of a concern and a fear into us and I don’t see why people can be more diligent,” Ross said
CAN YOU CATCH COVID-19 FROM SURFACES?
Joseph Blondeau, head of clinical microbiology at Royal University Hospital, says two years into the pandemic, evidence shows transmission from contaminated surfaces is “very low risk.”
“While it’s not zero, the likelihood for transmission from surfaces is thought to be certainly substantially less than say transmission from another infected individual,” Blondeau told CTV News.
Blondeau says evidence emerging from the Omicron variant shows the number of asymptomatic people with COVID-19 could be as high as 27 to 40 per cent of the infected population.
While it is possible to catch COVID-19 from a contaminated surface, you’re more likely to catch the virus from another person, Blondeau says.
Depending on the surface, COVID-19 can stay on surfaces anywhere from hours up to three days but no new information has been shared since the start of the pandemic.
“We still recommend that if you come in contact with a high touch surface, either don’t touch it or if you can decontaminate it, that’s a reasonable thing to do.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.