As summer descends on us and restaurants and businesses begin to open, it’s important to understand potential risks and adopt different types of preventative measures to care for yourself and others, while reducing the spread of COVID-19. Keep in mind, if you have symptoms of COVID-19 or have been in close proximity to someone that has COVID-19, it is important to stay at home and away from others.
In general, the more closely you interact with others and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread. When you are thinking of going places, keep in mind these recommendations from the CDC:
How many people will you interact with?
- Interacting with more people raises your risk.
- Being in a group with people who aren’t social distancing or wearing cloth face coverings increases your risk.
- Engaging with new people (e.g., those who don’t live with you) also raises your risk.
- Some people have the virus and don’t have any symptoms, and it is not yet known how often people without symptoms can transmit the virus to others.
Can you keep 6 feet of space between you and others? Will you be outdoors or indoors?
- The closer you are to other people who may be infected, the greater your risk of getting sick.
- Keeping distance from other people is especially important for people who are at higher risk for severe illness, such as older adults and those with underlying medical conditions.
- Indoor spaces are more risky than outdoor spaces where it might be harder to keep people apart and there’s less ventilation.
What’s the length of time that you will be interacting with people?
- What’s the length of time that you will be interacting with people?
- Spending more time with people who may be infected increases your risk of becoming infected.
- Spending more time with people increases their risk of becoming infected if there is any chance that you may already be infected.
Take Care DePaul!