Eshani Karu, MD — Covid-19 Observations on the Outside
Christmas Eve and are we going to visit family or stay home. There is no doubt that if you have an immune problem involving your heart, lungs, and other physical ailments that makes you vulnerable to Covid-19 it is best to stay home and avoid the public. My patients are coming to me with stories of the outside that may give one pause to be out in pubic, especially the elderly. It must be stated that everyone must take precautions and wear a face covering, mask, distance from people at 6 feet or greater and wash your hands frequently. Keep in mind that it is being in contact with others that gives you the best chance of catching the virus from another person.
In and Out Burger at the Walk Up Window — Have you seen the lines to buy a hamburger at the Inn and Out chain? Most of the time during the day there appears to be a line that is 10 cars or more. That said everyone is in the car and the workers at the window are masked up tight and safe. But at the walk up window the Order Takers are the must vulnerable. One of my friends was ordering a burger and while waiting observed what may or may not be the normal behavior of people when talking, but it I get ahead of myself. While at the window there was a woman with a thick accent that kept repeating her order to the worker. The woman tugged at the mask to give her better space with which to be heard, so the Order Taker would hear her order precisely. She tugged the mask below her nostrils. She was at the window talking for better than 3 minutes. From an outsider looking inside, this was a disaster for the Order Taker. This nice young man was patient and doing everything to make the customer happy and he did, but at what risk to himself, the lady making the order and to the five people that were around them observing while waiting for their own order at the Walk Up Window?
Another story was related to me about a visit at the grocery store. 90% of the people are wearing their mask, social distancing and doing their best to avoid strangers in the store. However, there is always someone walking around with their nostrils exposed from a lowered mask. There are people in the parking lot without masks when no one is around believing that the virus droplets are not hanging around, as if the parking lot is empty and has been empty for 10 or 20 minutes and there is no risk to wearing a mask.
We are not 100% sure in the medical community how long virus droplets are hanging in the air at the grocery store, hamburger stand, liquor store and other places of convenience. We are all filling our car’s gasoline tanks and it is imperative that we make no assumptions about public space and virus droplets. Protect yourselves this holiday season, especially when outdoors in pubic spaces.
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