This is how the coronavirus spreads in the supermarket and while jogging

How does the virus spread through the air? How is it transmitted between people? How far can it spread? These questions have been troubling us since the beginning of the pandemic. A lot of knowledge is brought by professional simulations prepared by Finnish researchers. See why you can get infected with the coronavirus while shopping in the store or … while running. It is worth knowing about it, especially since today you can shop in shopping malls again.

1. “Someone infected may cough and go away, and viruses stay in this place for about 6 minutes” – Finnish scientists argue. This is another argument for wearing a mask when shopping in the store
2. To better illustrate their discovery, they prepared a special animation that shows how the virus expelled by a coughing person spreads around the room
3. Similar findings apply to running – the virus spreads much more than two meters
4. More information about the coronavirus can be found on the TvoiLokony home page

This is how the coronavirus spreads in the store

Researchers from Aalto University in Finland created in April this year. three-dimensional animation showing how the virus most likely spreads through the air after a single cough of an infected person who has not put on a mask and has not covered his face with a hand or elbow.

The model shows that after coughing, the coronavirus aerosol can float in the air for a few minutes and spread up to several meters above store shelves.

This means that when shopping in the store, we can also become infected with the coronavirus. «If you need to go to the store for shopping, wear a mask and gloves. Make purchases as soon as possible»- says prof. Ville Vuorinen from Aalto University in Finland, where the animated model was created.

Can you get infected with the coronavirus in the store?

An animation created by scientists shows that the possibility of contracting coronavirus while shopping in a store is highly probable.

As prof. Ville Vuorinen, preliminary research results indicate that coronavirus-carrying aerosol particles may remain in the air longer than originally thought. And that means that we are at a much greater risk of contracting the coronavirusthan we thought until recently.

“Someone infected may cough and go away, and the viruses stay in this place for about 6 minutes,” says the scientist, encouraging him to buy as soon as possible and only when it is really necessary.

Bearing in mind the latest scientific reports, and knowing that SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection can be passed asymptomatically, when going shopping, we should be extremely careful.

It is therefore particularly advisable to cover your nose and mouth and avoid touching your face. However, after returning home, we must remember to wash our hands immediately and thoroughly. Read on to do this properly: Washing your hands can protect against viruses. How to do it effectively?

Running and the coronavirus

It turns out that we can also come into contact with the coronavirus while running, as long as we pass other runners along the way. Ansys has prepared an interesting simulation showing how the virus can spread while running.

If you think that the recommended 2 meters distance while running will protect us, you may be wrong. The animation clearly shows that such a distance may not be safe for us, because the droplets formed when exhaling can travel much further. Moreover, they can pose a threat not only to other runners, but also to pedestrians or cyclists following the infected person.

Experts say running side by side may therefore be less risky than running behind you, as this setting reduces the likelihood of contact with infected droplets thrown by another person.

To wear a mask or not?

“There is no scientifically proven evidence that the wearing of masks is ineffective. On the contrary (…), the latest biological discoveries concerning the penetration of the SARS-CoV-2 virus into human tissues (…) suggest that the main mechanism of virus transmission is not small aerosols but large droplets, and therefore the wearing of surgical masks guarantees a higher level of protection by everyone » – say the drug. Dariusz Tuleja and biologist Dr. Damian Ryszawy.

1. Read the full text: Why should everyone wear masks? Scientists explain

DRAWING: Filtering effect of small droplets (aerosols) for various masks: homemade handkerchief, surgical mask (3M “Tie-on”) and FFP2 mask (N95). Numbers are scaled to a reference of 100 (droplet source) for illustrative purposes, calculated from the PF (protection factor) values ​​in Table 2 by van der Sande et al., 2007.

Find out more:

1. Where is it easiest to “catch” the virus? Don’t sit in the corners
2. Coronavirus also spreads through the air. There are new CDC guidelines
3. How do you know if you have already been infected with the coronavirus without symptoms?