How likely are you to get Covid-19 from passing someone in a narrow hallway?

July 2, 2020 Richard Dawood

Amusingly enough, I’ve had this exact conversation with two experts, one an epidemiologist who worked on SARS, H1N1 and now COVID-19, and the other a pandemic modeling PhD. Both are working with clients across North America on risk assessment for return to work scenarios. And the answer is? If they sneeze or cough as they near you, pretty high. If you shake their hands, kiss their cheeks or otherwise be Italian with them, pretty high. Otherwise, droplets fall out of the air pretty quickly. It’s more people you are beside constantly and things you touch. The guy at the next desk, the doorknobs, the vending machines and the washrooms. But try to avoid it nonetheless. And wear a mask. Mostly because you might be the infected one and it prevents other people from being sprayed with your droplets. Yeah, I know, but trust me, no spraying without consent.