The US Centers for Disease Control says the chance of catching COVID-19 outdoors is roughly 10% – a figure being ridiculed even by the prestigious New York Times..In coverage Tuesday, the Times reported the figure is more likely around 1 per cent..The higher federal figure “seems to be a huge exaggeration,” Dr. Muge Cevik, a top infectious disease doctor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, told the Times..Dr. Aaron Richterman of the University of Pennsylvania agreed..“I’m sure it’s possible for transmission to occur outdoors in the right circumstances. But if we had to put a number on it, I would say much less than 1%,” he said..“Saying that less than 10% of COVID transmission occurs outdoors is akin to saying that sharks attack fewer than 20,000 swimmers a year. (The actual worldwide number is around 150.) It’s both true and deceiving.”.The 10% CDC figure is important because US governments have been using it to warn against outdoor gatherings and to promote mask use..The CDC based its outdoor transmission figure on research largely from cases at construction sites in Singapore, the Times said..“It could have been workplace transmission where it happens outdoors at the site or it could also have happened indoors within the construction site,’’ the Singapore government spokesman told the Times..In fact, at least some of the construction sites where “outdoor transmission’’ was recorded already had their concrete shells built — which would suggest the cases stemmed from indoor spread..Large outdoor gatherings are current banned across Western Canada..Over the May 1 weekend in In Bowden Alta., more than 4,000 people gathered for the No More Lockdowns Rodeo..Alberta Health Services have confirmed they haven’t seen any cases come out of the rodeo..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
The US Centers for Disease Control says the chance of catching COVID-19 outdoors is roughly 10% – a figure being ridiculed even by the prestigious New York Times..In coverage Tuesday, the Times reported the figure is more likely around 1 per cent..The higher federal figure “seems to be a huge exaggeration,” Dr. Muge Cevik, a top infectious disease doctor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, told the Times..Dr. Aaron Richterman of the University of Pennsylvania agreed..“I’m sure it’s possible for transmission to occur outdoors in the right circumstances. But if we had to put a number on it, I would say much less than 1%,” he said..“Saying that less than 10% of COVID transmission occurs outdoors is akin to saying that sharks attack fewer than 20,000 swimmers a year. (The actual worldwide number is around 150.) It’s both true and deceiving.”.The 10% CDC figure is important because US governments have been using it to warn against outdoor gatherings and to promote mask use..The CDC based its outdoor transmission figure on research largely from cases at construction sites in Singapore, the Times said..“It could have been workplace transmission where it happens outdoors at the site or it could also have happened indoors within the construction site,’’ the Singapore government spokesman told the Times..In fact, at least some of the construction sites where “outdoor transmission’’ was recorded already had their concrete shells built — which would suggest the cases stemmed from indoor spread..Large outdoor gatherings are current banned across Western Canada..Over the May 1 weekend in In Bowden Alta., more than 4,000 people gathered for the No More Lockdowns Rodeo..Alberta Health Services have confirmed they haven’t seen any cases come out of the rodeo..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
