Exercising outdoors can spread coronavirus long distances, study finds
Joggers and cyclists can still be exposed to coronavirus via slipstream, even while practicing recommended safe social distancing measures
While millions of Americas have been told to stay at home amid the outbreak of COVID-19, many continue to venture outside for exercise.
This may be contributing to the spread of the virus, according to a Belgian engineer.
As reported by WTVT-TV in Tampa Bay, Fla., simulation studies have shown that, despite following the six-feet parameters of social distancing, joggers and cyclists can still be exposed to coronavirus via slipstream, a vacuum of respiratory droplets that spread beyond six feet.
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The study was led by Bert Blocken, a civil engineering professor at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands who was already in the midst of researching particle movements around active bodies since 2019. His team zeroed in on coronavirus once the global pandemic took hold.
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“The droplets that are exhaled by somebody — even if the person coughs or sneezes, but just exhaling is enough,” Blocken explained.
“These droplets are very light,” he added. “They will stay behind in the air and they need time to settle down. If they don’t get the time to settle down, because another person starts running behind you, the other person will simply walk through a dense cloud of droplets.”
Blocken’s team’s research concluded that individuals walking or exercising outdoors maintain a distance of 15 feet between one other. For runners and bikers, a distance ranging between 33 to 65 feet, depending on the pace, is recommended.
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