How safe is it to use public bathrooms right now?

Experts say that washing your hands and maintaining social distancing are essential to pandemic toilet trips. | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images

It’s complicated. When Steven Soifer, a social work professor at the University of Mississippi, and his wife finally left social isolation for the first time since early March, they encountered a familiar problem: the call of nature. They first stopped by a Starbucks, but the franchise was taking drive-through orders only — the bathrooms were closed. Eventually, the couple came across a gas station, where one toilet seemed to be open.
“I walked in, and I had my face mask on and rubber gloves, so I figured, no problem at all,” explains Soifer, who also heads the American Restroom Association. “And so I lift up the toilet seat, and I realized: Oh my god, that touched the rubber gloves. So I’ve got a problem here.”
Soifer explained that he used his other, cleaner hand to open the door. He noticed the handle was made of stainless steel, which is not as antiviral as the copper fixtures you see in many bathrooms. But it’s virtually impossible to keep any bathroom completely sanitary, especially in the midst of a pandemic .
“So that there is an exact example of trying to navigate this out in public” Soifer added.
As states and localities move forward with allowing businesses to open up , more and more people will need to use public restrooms for the first time in months. But while a patron might be comfortable sitting down at a socially distanced, outdoor restaurant, bathrooms are another story. They’re rife with high-touch surfaces: doorknobs, toilet handles and seats, faucets, and paper towel dispensers. This, in addition to the fact that toilets themselves can possibly spew a plume of aerosol particles into the air with every flush.
So what do you do if you have to go and you’re not at home? Restaurants, parks, and other public spaces are now looking for ways to safely manage lavatories, trying everything from managing traffic flows with “bathroom monitors” to taping off urinals to installing pedals so people can open doors without touching knobs. Some public spaces are simply opting to keep their restrooms closed.
While these are all short-term solutions, they stand to shape how future public restrooms might change during and after this pandemic. But in the meantime, if you do decide to venture out, there are some very common-sense precautions you can take in the bathroom to keep yourself, and the next person in line, a bit safer.
Social distancing at the bathroom matters, even at your friend’s house
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the novel coronavirus primarily spreads when people are in close contact, like when you’re less than 6 feet away from others. That means that when you’re in a public or shared bathroom, your first worry should be to maintain social distancing.
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