I've based my activities on advice culled from articles like these two:
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/4/24/21233226/coronavirus-runners-cyclists-airborne-infectious-dose
https://www.businessinsider.com/risk-of-coronavirus-transmission-lower-outdoors-evidence-2020-5
that seem to indicate the likelihood of either catching or spreading infection in these instances is very small. Put simply, the virus does not survive long or maintain its infectious potential in open air. As the first article puts it, it's a question of relative risk:
Asked if she could offer a way to assess the risk of various activities in terms we can easily wrap our minds around, Kasten said to consider the difference in the risk between taking a stroll through the park on an even path versus climbing up a steep cliff face.
“Sure, you could slip, fall, strike your head, and die on that path in the park. Likewise, you could free-solo successfully to the top of El Capitan. But most of us would accept the risk of the stroll and not accept [the risk of] dangling from the cliff,” she said. “Breathing in someone’s sneeze cloud, close by, without a mask — that’s the cliff face. Jogging several feet away, or getting the mail — that’s the park.”Let me note, just to be clear, if I'm in a crowd, or go into a store or other enclosed situation, I put on a mask.
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I don’t wear a mask when I am in the outdoors UNLESS I am going to be close to a number of people, such as a town sidewalk or there are posted signs requiring a mask such as Swarthmore College grounds. I always assume I need a mask when going in any retail establishment. If I were going to the beach and masks were optional, I would only wear a mask if I was within 6 feet of others. I know people who accuse mask wearers of being scared “sheep”. The John Wayne tough guy act is an act and in the cases of those people espousing that idea is amplifying Trump actions.
ACM
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