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can your eyes catch covid-19?
it's not that common, but the virus can bind to the surface of the eyes and spread through the body.
may 15 2020
2 minute read
eyes are another gateway to the body for covid-19. getty
it’s known by now that the coronavirus is commonly transmitted through the nose or mouth by coughing and sneezing. now, some experts say that it’s possible to get covid-19 through your eyes, according to today.
on wednesday, dr. joseph fair, an nbc contributor and virologist told today that he believes he caught the virus through his eyes while on a flight from new york city to new orleans. he added that he was taking “max precautions” and was wearing a face mask and gloves while sitting right next to another person on the flight. he said he wasn’t wearing any eye protection however while on the plane.
nbc news medical correspondent dr. john torres says that the coronavirus can enter your body through the eyes. “it usually happens because of contact,” he told today. “you touch something, and you rub your eyes and you get it in that way.”
covid-19 can also enter the eyes if you don’t protect your eyes when someone coughs or sneezes on you. it can spread throughout the body when the virus binds to receptors on the surface of the eyes, torres added. this is similar to whenever receptors in the nose distribute virus droplets, but it doesn’t work the same way necessarily.
as today notes, when viral particles linger in the air after someone sneezes, the aerosols can be inhaled via the nose or the mouth to infect a person. torres said that this “isn’t a concern” for the eyes.
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new studies have also indicated that the virus could be transmitted through the human eye. researchers from john hopkins university school of medicine recently discovered that the eyes can be a “portal entryway” for the virus. looking at 10 eye specimens from deceased persons who didn’t have covid-19, they found that the surface of the eye can become susceptible to infection.
however, it’s less common to catch the virus through your eyes according to torres. as it’s a respiratory virus, it’s more likely to enter via the nose or mouth. additionally, whenever you hear someone sneeze, your first reaction is to blink, which prevents the droplets from entering the eyes.
torres added that dr. anthony fauci of the white house’s coronavirus task force has stated that contracting the virus through eye transmission is the least common method. he told today that he wouldn’t call eye transmission of covid-19 a “rare” occurrence as there’s no numbers on how often it happens.
that being said, if you are thinking about taking precautions to protect your eyes from the coronavirus, you can consider wearing glasses or goggles depending on where you are. torres said that you can consider wearing either or if “you’re in an area where you can’t (practice) social distancing”. he added that you can also consider wearing glasses or goggles if you’re around people who are coughing or sneezing a lot too.
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but at the end of the day, while a majority of people are walking around, even outside, other than vision glasses or sunglasses, torres said “i’m not sure that (eye protection, like goggles) would add that much benefit.”
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