- Most coronavirus infections occur when someone is within six feet of someone with COVID-19.
- Indoor gatherings, even if people are socially removed, remain risky because droplets stay in the air longer when there is little ventilation.
- The vaccination effort in the USA must increase in order to combat the spread of a more contagious and resilient COVID strain from South Africa.
Many of the things we know or think we know about the coronavirus have changed over the past few months. Of course, this is to be expected, as health experts and researchers were initially overwhelmed at how the coronavirus manifests in patients and how it could spread so quickly.
Now that we’re been in the pandemic for almost a year, health experts have a much better view of how the coronavirus spreads and in turn what can be done to reduce the likelihood of transmission. Suffice it to say that your work was endless and disinfecting your home, although important, does not address how most people probably came into contact with COVID-19.
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According to the CDC, COVID-19 spreads most easily when a positive COVID-19 person is standing close to another person. And since transmission usually occurs through respiratory drops, common activities such as laughing, talking, or even heavy breathing can increase the likelihood of transmission. Indeed, heavy breathing is precisely the reason why an activity such as going to the gym can be particularly risky.
The CDC below describes how COVID-19 usually spreads between two people:
- People who are physically close (within 6 feet) to a person with COVID-19 or have direct contact with the person are at greatest risk for infection.
- When people with COVID-19 cough, sneeze, sing, talk or breathe, they produce respiratory drops. These droplets can range in size from larger droplets (some of which are visible) to smaller droplets. Small droplets can also form particles if they dry very quickly in the air stream.
- Infections occur mainly through exposure to respiratory droplets when someone is in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.
- Respiratory droplets cause infection when inhaled or deposited on the mucous membranes, such as those that lead to the inside of the nose and mouth.
- As the respiratory droplets move further away from the person with COVID-19, the concentration of these droplets decreases. Larger droplets fall from the sky due to gravity. Smaller droplets and particles disperse into the air.
By the way, one of the reasons why a COVID-19 infection is more likely in winter is because droplets tend to linger longer in the colder and drier air environments.
The CDC adds that the transmission of COVID-19 in the air is a risk for transmission, even when people take the guidelines for social distance. Although less common than direct person-to-person transmission, the CDC writes that these broadcasts usually take place in enclosed spaces with under ventilation.
Under these circumstances, scientists believe that the amount of infectious smaller droplets and particles produced by humans with COVID-19 was concentrated enough to spread the virus to other humans. The infected people were in the same room at the same time or shortly after the person left with COVID-19.
This is indeed the reason why indoor gatherings are especially risky, even if people remain socially distanced. To date, the U.S. has seen 26.4 million coronavirus infections and 446,643 COVID-related deaths.
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Yoni Heisler is a lifelong Mac user and Apple enthusiast and has been writing about Apple and the technology industry for over 6 years. His writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK and most recently in TUAW. If he does not write and analyze the latest events with Apple, he likes to catch Improv programs in Chicago, play football and cultivate new addiction to TV programs, the latest examples of which are The Walking Dead and Broad City .