Wash your hands, do not touch your face, keep social-distancing, wear a mask– those are simply a few of the procedures we have actually been told assistance suppress the spread of the coronavirus.
Time to add another one to the list: Close the toilet lid before flushing.
According to new research, flushing a toilet can generate a mist of aerosol droplets that wafts 3 feet in the air and remains long enough to be inhaled by the next visitor.
Here’s a wonky visual, from the journal Physics of Fluids:
The study described that, as water puts into the toilet bowl from one side, it strikes the opposite side and creates a vortex with droplets that can float for over a minute.