Are You Spreading COVID-19 by Running and Cycling?
- 4 years ago
Are You Spreading COVID-19
by Running and Cycling? A study conducted by a Belgian-Dutch
research team recently went viral after
concluding that runners and cyclists
were dangerously spreading COVID-19. The 12-page-study warned that their
respiratory droplets potentially containing the
virus were able to spread further than six feet. Although unpublished and not yet peer
reviewed, the study has led to a huge debate over
just how dangerous outdoor exercise may be. According to Bert Blocken, one of the
study’s researchers, the intention was not to
cause panic but to encourage awareness. According to the study, the safe distances are:
65 feet for bike riding at 18 mph, 33 feet for
running at a 6:44 minutes-per-mile pace and
16 feet when walking at a normal pace. At these distances, the respiratory
droplets would have “moved down
to the ground” and are therefore no
longer a threat of direct exposure. However, the question remains: How likely is
it that these particles would make someone
sick even if they were exposed? A recent study published in MedRxiv of 318 outbreaks
found that only one transmission occurred outdoors. Professor Linsey Marr,
Virginia Tech, via ‘Wired’ Until more studies can be done,
exercise immunologist David Nieman
thinks that immune-boosting exercise
should continue but in a solitary manner.
by Running and Cycling? A study conducted by a Belgian-Dutch
research team recently went viral after
concluding that runners and cyclists
were dangerously spreading COVID-19. The 12-page-study warned that their
respiratory droplets potentially containing the
virus were able to spread further than six feet. Although unpublished and not yet peer
reviewed, the study has led to a huge debate over
just how dangerous outdoor exercise may be. According to Bert Blocken, one of the
study’s researchers, the intention was not to
cause panic but to encourage awareness. According to the study, the safe distances are:
65 feet for bike riding at 18 mph, 33 feet for
running at a 6:44 minutes-per-mile pace and
16 feet when walking at a normal pace. At these distances, the respiratory
droplets would have “moved down
to the ground” and are therefore no
longer a threat of direct exposure. However, the question remains: How likely is
it that these particles would make someone
sick even if they were exposed? A recent study published in MedRxiv of 318 outbreaks
found that only one transmission occurred outdoors. Professor Linsey Marr,
Virginia Tech, via ‘Wired’ Until more studies can be done,
exercise immunologist David Nieman
thinks that immune-boosting exercise
should continue but in a solitary manner.