- [Dr. Susan Hassig] I basically try to remind people
that this virus isn't just out in the environment
waiting to jump down your respiratory tract.
It's captured, it's acquired from interacting with people.
- [Narrator] This is Dr. Susan Hassig.
- I'm an Associate Professor of Epidemiology.
I was not one of those that rushed to a restaurant
the first weekend they opened up.
Given the opportunity it will spread.
- [Narrator] Staying safe from COVID-19
doesn't require isolating in a bunker,
but it does mean weighing different risks
based on the situation.
You can think about everyday activities
in terms of the three Ds,
diversity,
distance,
and duration.
Diversity is the number of households mixing.
So risk is higher if you're meeting
with people you don't live with,
particularly if you don't know
everywhere they've been in the past two weeks.
It's also higher if your area has had lots of recent cases,
or if testing is too limited to know
how many active carriers are around.
Distance is an issue whenever
you're less than six feet from other people.
Especially if you're indoors or people aren't wearing masks.
Lastly, it comes down to duration.
Are you running past people in the park?
Or are you having an extended conversation or encounter?
- So the challenge that you have
is kind of translating that
into normal day-to-day behaviors.
Pool party kinds of situations.
There's food involved.
And there's more than likely,
at an adult gathering, alcohol involved.
I would be concerned about mask wearing in that context,
which actually should be part of the mix.
When you're thinking about distance and density,
those are two things that can be really
problematic to maintain in that kind of environment,
and there may be social pressure
not to maintain the distance.
Bars are really designed to attract people
in large numbers and to get up close and personal.
So that's one of the venues that I am most concerned about
when they eventually are allowed to reopen.
Houses of worship, very frequently
the population present there is generally older,
potentially more vulnerable
to consequences of coronavirus infection,
but there are also lots of activities
that can be potentially really problematic.
We know singing results in tremendous projection
of air and virus, potentially.
Group sports, when you're physically working out,
you're gonna be breathing a lot harder.
And forced exhalation, if you happen to be infected,
is a great way to expel a lot of virus.
In the gym context, what I've seen they have broken up
those banks of treadmills.
They've removed some of the machines or spaced them out
to provide distance between individuals on them.
I think the real challenge is, I think,
in some respect, is for the trainers.
The indoor dinner party is also fairly high.
You may have some reasonable distancing,
but probably not enough.
And then when you're eating
you're obviously not wearing a mask.
If it's households co-mingling,
that's where the real issue does come in.
Mass transit options,
basically they're relatively small, enclosed spaces
with potentially lots of people in them
for an extended period of time.
Whether it's a surface bus or a subway or an airplane,
you've got lots of possibilities going on there.
A date, one on one, making sure you know who it is
that you're having a date with before you actually
get into a physical proximity with them
is probably a really good idea.
Troll their social media to see what they're posting,
and if they've been to a couple of bars or parties,
I wouldn't go on a physical date with them.
I'd keep it virtual.
Dental visits are close proximity,
certainly with the dental hygienist
for an extended period of time,
and as a patient your mouth is wide open,
ready to accept virus.
I'm assuming they would screen physiologically
any of their patients.
I think the other kinds of
personal care and close interaction services,
I mean, we've seen the example of what happens
when a hairstylist goes into work sick,
and that's really problematic.
Airbnbs, I think it really depends on the proprietor
and what kind of interval they have between their guests.
Because, I mean, we know the virus will not survive
more than two or three days on any kind of surface
without renewed contamination.
And so I would be very concerned about an Airbnb
that was flipping it the same day
from one client to the next.
In a hotel I have a little bit less concern,
although I would like to think that they
are leaving at least one day in between guests
in individual rooms, preferably two days.
Shopping in general is relatively low,
but in a mall where there may be opportunities
for people to gather is what I would be concerned about.
Public pools, the water itself is not a risk.
But if that water is full of people,
shoulder to shoulder or whatever, it's a risk.
It's a risk environment.
I think campsites are relatively safe,
as long as you're not, again, gathering around the campfire
in close proximity with five other households.
Walking in the park or whatever,
where you're not stopping and chatting for 10 minutes
with an old friend, I'm not sure that you really
even need to wear a mask in that context,
because you're not spending any length of time
in proximity to anyone,
unless of course, it's the crowded boardwalk in New Jersey
or North Carolina or wherever else.
- [Narrator] All of this varies from situation to situation
and person to person.
The three Ds may not be enough if you're high risk
or interact with people who are,
as even moderate risk can lead to major consequences.
- There are some people ready and willing
to accept the consequences of engaging
in certain kinds of activities.
But here it's more than just about an individual.
It's really about your collective sphere of friends,
family, and those that you interact with.