Whatever You Do, Do Not Take Part In The #CoronavirusChallenge

With over 150,000 followers on Instagram and 19,000 on TikTok, Louise gained the attention of health experts who are strongly advising against her suggestion in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. 

We spoke to Melbourne-based doctor, Kieran Kennedy, who gave us the lowdown on how ridiculous her actions were. 

“Even without the added significant concerns around COVID-19 at present, this is incredibly risky stunt as far as social media trends go,” Dr. Kennedy tells Men’s Health. 

“Toilets in general, and particularly toilet seats, are areas of significant contamination when it comes to both bacteria and viruses that can cause significant infections and illness. Add that to the fact that this is a toilet seat in a plane, with likely heavy use from travellers and it’s an infection prevention nightmare scenario.”

So can you catch coronavirus from a toilet seat?

“There’s evidence to suggest that Coronavirus can be spread from a faecal-oral route (basically, it might spread from poo/faecal material finding its way into the body via the mouth), and whilst under normal circumstances the virus is spread primarily through respiratory droplets (i.e. sneezing, coughing) licking a toilet seat is taking an incredible risk here – especially with the state of rising spread of COVID-19,” he continues. 

“If someone carrying COVID-19 had used that bathroom beforehand, then there’s theoretically ever chance that transmission could occur.”