And, what's the best way to make sure that you don't become one of those statistics? Well, the latest science says six feet of social distance and wearing a mask anytime you're around anyone else talking, coughing, sneezing or even breathing.
That's because of what is known as aerosol or airborne transmission. It's one of the main ways that the CORONA virus spreads.
Contact tracing has found that much COVID-19 transmission occurs in close proximity, such as when people talk to each other at close range.
Yesterday on Ask The Experts, Dr Manzanero underscored the importance of wearing masks in tight spaces:
Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services
"Understand also that the current evidence suggest that up to 40% of infections are transmitted by asymptomatic persons and that's important because that's the relevance of why we both need to be wearing a mask, because I don't know if in this process of interaction any one of us is positive and not keeping that 6 foot distance. Touch seem to be one of the higher risk situations, but now because of how it is transmitted, simple activity such as talking or reading alongside somebody that is and you are not wearing a mask, those put you at a higher risk than the hand situation. The hand - you need to wash it before touching your face and simply because you are touching surfaces where respiratory droplets or droplets when we are talking or being left around invisible to you, you touch it and then you touch your face - that's a potential risk, but simple activity such as breathing and talking would seem to be for the time being high risk factors especially if it's in close environment where you have ACs that don't have adequate ventilation as well."
So, the rule of thumb is, the closer you are to someone releasing virus-carrying aerosols, the more likely you are to breathe in larger amounts of virus.
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