The surge of Covid-19 infections in Washington this week has many wondering: Is it safe enough to hold indoor, public events again? Are we returning to normal or throwing caution to the wind after more than two years of isolation?
Another approach to mitigating the risk of having
Still, the lack of reports of serious illness among officials who have contracted Covid “means the vaccines are doing their job,” he said.Eating, talking loudly and even singing indoors have proven to greatly increase the risk of viral spread during the pandemic. At the Gridiron dinner, attendees sat together in close proximity for hours, eating, drinking, talking over each other — even joining hands at the end to sing “Auld Lang Syne.
CDC uses to define a “close contact” of a Covid patient — “someone who was less than 6 feet away from an infected person ... for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period” — is “somewhat arbitrary,” Marr said.Nancy Pelosi “There is enormous variability in the amount of virus that people release into the air, so you could be standing next to someone for hours and not become infected, or it could happen in just minutes,” she said. “Another source of variability is the exposed person’s immune response.”Any person 65 and older — or of any age who is immunocompromised or has an underlying condition that puts them at risk of severe Covid — must “think carefully” about large indoor events, Schaffner said.