CINCINNATI (WKRC) – With the coronavirus surging in many parts of the country, you may be wondering if you can avoid it. The answer may not depend on where you go but what you do when you get there.
“Well, my wife and I, the number one thing we decided we needed to do to not catch COVID is to do our own thinking for ourselves,” said Tim Schoonover.
He, like many of us, is doing everything possible at work, on the golf course and even while socializing with family and friends to not catch COVID-19.
“No large gatherings where there's a lot of people that we don't know, where they've been traveling and kind of hanging out,” said Schoonover.
"Not to be hyperbolic about it, but it really is the perfect storm from an infectious disease and public health person's worst nightmare,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIAID director. “It's a spectacularly transmissible virus. The efficiency with which this transmits is really striking."
Infectious disease specialists said the only real way to avoid catching the virus is to avoid people who have it. That may be obvious when people are sick or show symptoms.
“I think you have to assume that anybody in the community could be infected with this virus,” said Dr. Stephen Blatt, the medical director for Infectious Diseases at TriHealth. “We're learning that a higher proportion of people are asymptomatically infected than we thought before -- maybe as much as 40% of all infections are asymptomatic."
To avoid catching COVID-19:
Stay away from people
Wash your hands
Wear a mask
Stay home if you feel sick
“I think that’s what we’ve found if you just do one [of the recommendations], it doesn't work; it’s a package,” said Dr. Blatt. “We call it a bundle. You have to do all the parts of the bundle to really protect yourself and protect other people.”
Dr. Blatt said it’s not the place that makes you sick, it’s not being able to do any of those things, like on a crowded flight or at the grocery store.
“We really try to listen to all the information out there and measure it up, but really not give up a brain and to make a decision for ourselves,” said Schoonover.
