New research is giving a new reason to pay attention to how coronavirus spreads - beyond person-to-person respiratory droplets.

The new research looked at how the virus makes its way around places like schools and day cares.

Researchers at Emory University teamed up with the CDC to find contaminated surfaces are still a significant source of risk.

There are steps parents can take to make a big difference for little ones in terms of cleaning to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Ben Lopman led the study at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health. He says what they found is disinfecting surfaces remains a priority.

"Where people spend a lot more time, like in a school, like in a day care or in an office setting, if someone's infectious they can keep contaminating the surface more frequent cleaning is required," he says.

So, it's important to bring in the cleaning cart, don't let up on the heavy-duty protocols and have students stick to their own desk and school supplies.

Researchers say it's hard to separate out how much the spread of infection in one location is due to people breathing in infected droplets versus touching a surface contaminated with lingering live virus.