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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say there’s one thing most people diagnosed with COVID-19 did before they got sick: They were in close contact with someone who was infected. According to Official CDC statement“The virus that causes COVID-19 is most often spread between people who are in close contact with each other (at around six feet or two arms’ lengths),” the agency said. “It is spread by respiratory droplets or small particles, like those in aerosols, produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, speaks or breathes.” Read on to see why it puts you at risk and how to avoid it – and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss out on these sure signs you’ve had coronavirus before.
Avoid “confined spaces” with “inadequate ventilation”
These droplets typically fall to the ground within six feet, where they no longer present a danger of transmission. This is where the six foot social distancing directive comes from. However, notes the CDC, smaller particles can linger in the air and cause infection – known as airborne transmission.
“There is evidence that under certain conditions, people with COVID-19 appear to have infected others who were more than 6 feet away,” the agency says. “These transmissions occurred in enclosed spaces that had inadequate ventilation. Sometimes the infected person was breathing heavily, for example while singing or exercising.”
Nevertheless, the agency notes that close contact is a much more common mode of transmission: “Available data indicates that it is much more common than the virus that causes COVID-19 to spread through close contact with someone with COVID-19 than through airborne transmission. “
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What exactly is “close contact”?
At this point, it is practically evangelical that you should maintain a safe social distance of six feet from people who are not in your household. But last fall, the CDC developed this guideline.
Prior to last October, the CDC defined “close contact” as a person who spent at least 15 consecutive minutes within six feet of a person with COVID-19. The agency’s new guidelines changed that definition to a person who was within six feet of an infected person for 15 cumulative minutes or more in a 24-hour period, starting from two days before the start of their disease or a positive test result.
The change was inspired by a report published in the journal MMWR of a 20-year-old Vermont prison worker who contracted coronavirus after having 22 brief interactions during an eight-hour shift with six people who tested positive for COVID-19 the next day.
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How to survive this pandemic
As for you, do all you can to avoid catching and spreading COVID-19 in the first place: Wear a face mask, get tested if you think you have coronavirus, avoid crowds (and bars, and house parties), practice social distancing, only do essential groceries, wash your hands regularly, sanitize surfaces frequently affected and get through this pandemic to the best of your health, don’t miss them 35 places where you’re most likely to catch COVID.
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