Virologist claims he contracted coronavirus through his eyes, from his hospital bed

‘Of course I wasn’t wearing goggles on the flight’

Speaking from his hospital bed, a virologist has claimed that he contracted Covid-19 through his eyes.

Dr Joseph Fair, a contributor to NBC, told the Today show that he believes he contracted coronavirus while on a busy flight.

The 42-year-old started feeling ill with coronavirus symptoms three days after he travelled on a flight to New Orleans.

From his hospital bed, Dr Fair told the show that he took his normal coronavirus precautions on the flight, but didn’t protect his eyes.

“I had a mask on, I had gloves on, I did my normal wipes routine...but obviously, you can still get it through your eyes,” he said. “And of course I wasn’t wearing goggles on the flight.”

Dr Fair added that nurses wear face shields or googles when they treat coronavirus patients, to minimise the risk of contracting Covid-19.

“That’s one of the three known routes of getting this infection that we just don’t pay a lot of attention to; we tend to pay attention to the nose and mouth because that is the most common route,” Dr Fair said.

“But you know, droplets landing on your eyes are just as infectious.”

He described the scene on board the flight, as passengers “packed in like sardines,” and added that contracting coronavirus through his eyes is “the best guess I could give.”

On the organisation’s website, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), explains that although it is unlikely, it is possible to contract coronavirus through the eyes.

“It may be possible that a person can get Covid-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes,” the website reads.

“This is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, but we are still learning more about this virus.”

According to a tracking project hosted by Johns Hopkins University, there are now more than 1.3 million people who have tested positive for coronavirus in the US. The death toll has reached at least 84,313.