The most important factors affecting your risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus are the amount of time you spend with someone and whether that time is spent inside or outside, CNN contributor Erin Bromage told Wolf Blitzer on Thursday in The Situation Room.
When asked if a person should hold their breath when walking on someone in the street who was not wearing a mask, Bromage, an associate professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, replied no.
“I understand that people think that is a risk, but it is exposure to the virus, enough of the virus for long enough. When you walk past someone, holding your breath really isn’t going to greatly reduce the risk for you. First of all, that person doesn’t pose a great risk to you, either, ”he said.
As for the risk of contracting the virus from a contaminated surface, it is low, but “it is definitely a possibility.”
“Our greatest risk is face-to-face conversations and being indoors with a lot of people in an enclosed space,” said Bromage.
“Time is definitely a problem with this. So the more time you spend talking to someone, the more time you share with them, the greater the risk that you have enough viruses to infect you, “he added.
Why it is important to wear masks: “The masks stop emissions at the source. They prevent them from leaving your mouth and moving towards the air, towards the environment. So if we stop them where they start, they can never pose a risk to another person. ” he said.
He added that “even a poor fit mask will do something, a better fit mask does much more.”
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