top of page

Practice Outdoors - it's Safer! 

Information from an article in the BBC Published April 22, 2021 By David Shukman

  • All the evidence points to the vast majority of Covid infections happening indoors. Catching COVID-19 requires exposure to the virus over a period of time.

  • ​The virus is transmitted through human interaction, especially when people are together for a long period of time.

  • That means the virus can spread in several different ways. Either infected droplets can land on people close by, or contaminate surfaces that others touch. And if rooms are stuffy, tiny virus particles can accumulate in the air and get inhaled.

  • This is all most likely to happen inside our households and offices.

​​

 Information comes from an article in The New York Times Published May 23, 2020 By Michael LevensonTara Parker-Pope and James Gorman

  • Pandemic life is safer outdoors, in part, because even a light wind will quickly dilute the virus. If a person nearby is sick, the wind will scatter the virus, potentially exposing nearby people but in far smaller quantities, which are less likely to be harmful.

​       

  • One  recent study found that just talking can launch thousands of droplets that can remain suspended in the air for eight to 14 minutes. The risk of inhaling those droplets is much lower outdoors. 

​

  • According to Dr. Chudnovsky, a sunny day is better than a cloudy day, because there’s more sunlight to kill the virus and more wind to dilute it. In colder weather, the virus may last longer in the open - it thrives in low temperatures.

​

  • “I think going outside is important for health,” said Julia L. Marcus, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.  “We know that being outdoors is lower risk for coronavirus transmission than being indoors.”

​

  • “I think outdoors is so much better than indoors in almost all cases,” said Linsey Marr, an engineering professor and aerosol scientist at Virginia Tech. “There’s so much dilution that happens outdoors. As long as you’re staying at least six feet apart, I think the risk is very low.”​

bottom of page