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Having a drink with friends
Text updated on 2020-11-15
In the COVID-19 pandemic, social life is greatly reduced. Nevertheless, if you have the opportunity to have an cocktail with friends, be aware that the mask and the outdoors are your best friends during the pandemic. For a drink with your friends, it will be outside, masked, and 1 or 2 meters away!
The mask because it protects you from aerosols which are the main route of coronavirus contamination.
Did you know that?Physical distancing is not enough. 60 members of a choir gathered in a room to sing for 2 1/2 hours on March 10, 2020 in Washington State, USA. They kept safe distances, used hydro-alcoholic solutions, but did not put on masks. Three weeks later, 45 of them tested positive for COVID-19.To find out more about it
The outdoors because to dissipate the aerosols responsible for the spread of SARS-CoV-2, it is essential to be in a well-ventilated place, i.e., outside or in a ventilated room with open windows, when you take off your mask to eat or drink. If it's cold, it's better to put on an extra sweater rather than grab the COVID-19 !
Did you know that?The risk of transmission is much lower outdoors than indoors, as long as you keep a distance, because aerosols containing the coronavirus are dispersed more readily in the atmosphere. However, even if the risk of contamination outdoors is low, it is not reduced to zero. Among 7,324 cases of COVID-19 described in China between January and February 2020, one case of transmission of the coronavirus outdoors where people were close by was described.To find out more
Of course, you must remember to stay far enough away. Even outdoors, avoid staying in the direct airflow of another person. If you can smell the other person's breath, you are breathing in what they are breathing out including their viral particles, so stay away.
Did you know that? So far, only one case of "cluster" contamination has been identified that has taken place outdoors: it was a festival where there were tents with minimal ventilation during meals. The other cases of cluster contamination have taken place in closed places: sports hall, boat, restaurant, bar, hospital, church, etc. For more information
Avoid going to the bathroom as much as possible in public places or at your friends' homes. These are poorly ventilated places where the risk of infection is high.
Did you know that?In Fangcang, a sports center in Wuhan converted into a temporary hospital, the most contaminated air (in terms of quantity of viral particles) was observed in the toilets, narrow, and unventilated rooms.For more information
Did you know that?A 28-year-old was infected when she took off her mask to go to the toilet on a flight from Milan to South Korea. This person had been quarantined for 3 weeks alone at her home in Italy before the flight and had not used public transport to get to the airport. She experience the first symptoms 8 days after the flight. On the plane, she used the same toilet as a pre-symptomatic person (tested positive 2 days after the flight). The 18 cabin crew and medical personnel were not contaminated. They all wore masks.For more information
You must also be careful not to share bowls of chips or peanuts in which several hands are going to dip. The coronavirus is transmitted by droplets and aerosols that contaminate our hands every time we bring them to our mouths... Each to his glass, each to his bowl of peanuts!
Keep in mind that if you are not a vulnerable person and are therefore unlikely to have a severe form of COVID-19. However, if you become infected, you may infect your parents and grandparents, who are more vulnerable than you are to this disease.
Did you know that? People over 65 are 50% more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 than adults under 65 and their symptoms are often more severe. To find out more
Finally, don't forget that you can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 without having symptoms but still transmit COVID-19 to your loved ones.
Did you know that?In the early days of the epidemic, a person in Wuhan who never developed symptoms but who had COVID-19 infected five people in his family.To find out more about it
Did you know that? It is estimated that nearly 45% of people infected with coronavirus are asymptomatic but contagious! To find out more