Staying safe isn't just about hygiene and distance. It's about time, too.

CNN ^ | Updated 9:35 AM ET, Tue May 19, 2020 | Eric Levenson

[Zhang Fei]

By now, you've likely heard the main pieces of advice to avoid the coronavirus.

Wear a mask. Wash your hands with soap. Stay at least 6 feet from others. If you do gather with others, go outside rather than inside.

Still, there's one more aspect to infection that has received less attention. Growing evidence suggests that Covid-19 infection, like with other illnesses, is related to prolonged time exposed to the virus. The longer you stay in an environment that may contain the virus, the higher the risk of getting sick.

Erin Bromage, a comparative immunologist and professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, summed it up with a short and sweet equation: "Successful Infection = Exposure to Virus x Time."

Bromage's simplified formula was part of a recent blog post explaining ways to lower your risk of catching Covid-19 that has been read over 15 million times in the past two weeks, he told CNN.

The main idea is that people get infected when they are exposed to a certain amount of viral particles. That viral threshold can be reached by an infected person's sneeze or cough, which releases a large number of viral particles into the air. But an infected person talking or even just breathing still releases some virus into the air, and over a long period of time in an enclosed space, that could still infect others.

"The longer time you spend in that environment -- so minutes or hours in there -- the more virus you breathe in, the more it can build up and then establish infection," Bromage said. "So it's always a balance of exposure and time. If you get a high level of exposure, it's a short time (to infection, and if you get a) low level of exposure, it's a

[JoSixChip]

The longer you stay in an environment that may contain the virus, the higher the risk of getting sick

Wow! these must be really smart people. /s

[Mastador1]

Ooh Ooh, the longer you stay in a covid environment, unless you are in a high risk group..................it may just be the best thing for you! Since the majority of people actually contracting the virus are asymptomatic and herd immunity is the best thing for the nation to overcome the virus..............just like we did in the last three pandemics without shutting the nation down and artificially inflating the mortality rate to keep Americans scared and controlled.

[Wuli]

And on that note, in a NYC study of hospitalized Wuhan Virus cases, 66% were not from workers who had been allowed to continue working, not from those out and about amidst others going to and from work everyday. No. 66% were among people who had been staying at home - “Successful Infection = Exposure to Virus x Time”.

It is not the random encounter that is the most risky, it is the constant and prolonged contact.

Standing in line waiting to get into Trader Joes is not a very high risk activity. It is so not high risk that either six feet apart or a mask is sufficient, both together are redundant.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Explains Nursing Homes and Prisons.

[BradyLS]

All these dad-blammed articles read like the rona and viruses never existed before and no one ever does anything to mitigate against them. The Swamp has put us an added $4 trillion in debt and media continues chastise the muggles for not being sufficiently terrified.

[Sacajaweau]

It would seem that wearing a mask would keep the virus concentrated in yourself...rather than expelling virus particles and re-inhaling them. Defies common sense.

[Sacajaweau]

That's what I keep saying. You don't need both. Even the signs show people 6 feet apart with no mask.

And it's not like I'm talking or coughing on people. Of course there are folks with allergies that sneeze and cough etc...And we get nervous and jerky.

The bottom line...if you feel sick...call your doctor.

[Savage Rider]

Nope. It’s about the Candida overgrowth that moves from your large intestine to your liver. Eat well, take your vitamins and you won’t get COVID-19.

[sickoflibs]

And don’t touch ANYTHING, don’t leave that one out.

[fireman15]

What would we have to discuss if the Fearpers were not constantly linking to articles from CNN, MSNBC, the Daily Mail, New York Times and all the other MSM outlets?

[plain talk]

This fits well with my modus operandi wrt stores. Get in, get stuff, get out.

[Mom MD]

I got an idea. let’s lock everybody in a windowless box alone for a month or two and no one will get sick again ....

[Mom MD]

You do t need either one. If you are going to get it you will. it’s time to open up society and go on with life

[Zhang Fei]

[It would seem that wearing a mask would keep the virus concentrated in yourself...rather than expelling virus particles and re-inhaling them. Defies common sense.]

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If you’re infected, you’re getting the third degree from the virus. You can’t get any more infected.

What US expat and former Hong Kong resident Fai Mao pointed out is that while NYC and HK have roughly similar population densities, HK’s death numbers are two orders of magnitude smaller. He attributes it to almost universal masking.

My impression, from a swing through Hong Kong decades ago, is that Hong Kong is far more crowded. Much of its craggy geography remains undeveloped. I’ve read that small parcels of (what used to be Crown) land is auctioned annually to developers, as part of the city’s long term revenue plan. Whereas NYC is pretty much built up from one end to the other with parks and cemeteries being the exceptions. Even NYC’s car registrations are triple Hong Kong’s.

The skylines are a study in contrasts. Hong Kong’s skyline is wall to wall skyscrapers, including residential towers that seemed, decades ago, to reach 40 stories at the least. Whereas outside of Manhattan, NYC’s skyline is mostly clear, and studded with large numbers of 2 and 3 story brownstones, if you want to call that a skyline.

So people are more spread out in NYC and yet they have literally 100x the dead in Hong Kong. I find it hard to believe that universal masking isn’t the reason Hong Kong’s numbers are so much lower despite the fact that it has continued operating on a business-as-usual basis throughout the epidemic, with limited restrictions on restaurants and bars, as well as border controls and quarantine measures for people coming into the territory. (Thanks to this pandemic, I now know more about Hong Kong than I ever wanted to know, because of its comparatively low fatality numbers even compared to the SARS pandemic almost 20 years ago).

[Wuli]

“. it’s time to open up society and go on with life”

regardless, because for all but .04% it is not a death sentence anyway - bigger risks from other things

[Raycpa]

There may be another factor in the staying home crowd. My parents are elderly and they have frequent contact with home health aide and nurses. This statistic may be another indication of not caring properly for elderly like in nursing homes.

[Mom MD]

Well I’m glad Fai Mao has spoke. His word must be truth. /s

[Zhang Fei]

[Well I’m glad Fai Mao has spoke. His word must be truth. /s]

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As with all pandemics, in time, we’ll know. For now, we take what we can get. And one aspect of the scientific method relates to comparing like for like.

[Zhang Fei]

[Well I’m glad Fai Mao has spoke. His word must be truth. /s]

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Note that this wasn’t an appeal to authority on the virus. I’m just crediting him with pointing out that two cities with similar population density profiles have had radically different fatality outcomes. If it were just several % one way or the other, that would be one thing. But 100x is hard to simply dismiss. In fact, Hong Kong’s extreme crowdedness compared to NYC suggests that it should have higher fatality numbers than NYC. One frigid New Year’s Eve many decades ago, I showed up in Times Square for the evening’s festivities. That was the most crowded I’ve ever seen NYC. During my (admittedly short) swing through Hong Kong, that level of crowdedness was an everyday event, and there was nothing festive going on that I knew of. And yet NYC has 100x the fatality numbers.