in the present scenario of ongoing corona infection, the following analysis illustrates where and how we may be boosting our immune system or we may get severely affected
WHAT IT TAKES TO INFECT
To successfully infect you, the virus needs a dose of ~1000 viral particles (VP)
The typical environmental spread of activities:
Breath: ~20 vp/minute
Speaking: ~200 vp/minute
Cough: ~200 million VP (enough of these may remain in the air for hours in a poorly ventilated environment)
Sneeze: ~200 million VP
FORMULA
Successful infection = Exposure to Virus * Time
SCENARIOS
* Being in the vicinity of someone (with 6 ft distancing): Low risk if the limit to less than 45 minutes
* Talking to someone face to face (with mask): Low risk if the limit to less than 4 minutes
* Someone passing you walking/jogging/cycling: Low risk
* Well-ventilated spaces, with distancing: Low risk (limit duration)
* Grocery shopping: Medium risk (can reduce to low by limiting time and the following hygiene)
* Indoor spaces: High risk
* Public Bathrooms/Common areas: High fomite/surface transfer risk
* Restaurants: High risk (can reduce to Medium risk by sitting outdoors with distancing and surface touch awareness)
* Workplaces/Schools (even with social distancing): Very high risk, including high fomite transfer risk
* Parties/Weddings: Very high risk
* Business networking/conferences: Very high risk
* Arenas/Concerts/Cinemas: Very high risk
RISK FACTORS
The bottom line factors you can use to calculate your risk are:
- indoors vs outdoors
- narrow spaces vs large, ventilated spaces
- high people density vs low density
- longer exposure vs brief exposure
The risks will be higher for former scenarios.