
FAQ: Enjoying summertime outdoors, amid the pandemic
Summer is fast approaching, along with all the outdoors offers — and that prompts a range of questions about the impact of the novel coronavirus.
Is it safe to swim or surf in the ocean during the outbreak? Or cool off in ponds and rivers?
Is it safe to swim or surf in the ocean during the outbreak? Or cool off in ponds and rivers?
Those activities should be fine — provided everyone stays at least 6 feet away from each other, scientists say.
Yet sharing is forbidden. Mark Sobsey, professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina, said beachgoers “must not share items like drinks, food, suntan lotions or sprays, or towels.”
And consider the lifeguards. Even a simple rescue may put them at risk of being infected with the virus, experts said.
As Sobsey pointed out, lifeguards face the same peril as any other first responders if called on to resuscitate someone. “They should wear as much protective equipment as is possible to manage in their responses,” he said by email.
Will people have to wear masks while in the water at Long Island beaches?
Will people have to wear masks while in the water at Long Island beaches?
No, masks are not required in the water. But on land, everyone at state parks and beaches must wear masks if they can't stay a minimum of 6 feet apart from everyone else, the state parks department says on its website. Nassau and Suffolk have issued similar guidelines.
Should people social-distance while in the water?
Should people social-distance while in the water?
No exceptions should be made to social distancing, experts said, especially in the water. Any exertion there — someone mistiming a wave, or imperfectly surfacing from a dive, for example — could cause someone to cough, sneeze or sputter, possibly spewing infectious particles to anyone near.
Am I at risk if I walk barefoot at the beach?
Am I at risk if I walk barefoot at the beach?
Those who dig their toes in the sand can take some comfort: The sunlight heating the sand should kill the virus, experts said, and there is another destructive factor: other people’s footprints.
“The combination of people walking on it and burying it suggest the virus would not be viable for long," said Dr. Stanley Perlman, professor of microbiology and immunology, and pediatrics, at the University of Iowa.
“I would be comfortable on a beach as long as I was 6 feet away from anyone else,” he said.
Should children share beach toys like pails and shovels?
Should children share beach toys like pails and shovels?
No, unless the friends and relatives you're with are trusted followers of the well-publicized anti-virus safeguards — or, unless the items can be thoroughly cleansed before sharing or returning them, experts said.
Similarly, the state parks department’s website says: “Do not share equipment, such as bicycles, helmets, balls or Frisbees.”
And contact sports, such as football and volleyball, all are banned.
Is it safe to swim in pools during the outbreak?
Is it safe to swim in pools during the outbreak?
A properly chlorinated pool should be safe during the pandemic, experts said. However, few if any public pools are expected to open anytime soon, at least in the metropolitan area.
As New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently explained, the risk of contagion likely is much too great with public pools, starting with people standing in line to get in.
Crowded locker rooms and showers, and the impossibility of staying 6 feet away from any other swimmer, are some of the other factors that pretty much rule out a refreshing dip, at least in the short term, except for those lucky enough to have their own pools.
And the hazards lifeguards and swimmers would face in rescues if either is infected might be too high, just as at beaches, experts said.
Does chlorine kill the coronavirus?
Does chlorine kill the coronavirus?
Tried and true cleaning methods — filtration and disinfectants including chlorine — have been relied on by wastewater plants for decades and “should inactivate” the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organization says.
When heavy storms overwhelm wastewater systems, releasing gallons of untreated sewage, it might carry the coronavirus, scientists said. But Nassau and Suffolk have a long history of closing beaches when that problem arises.
Will there be coronavirus testing at beaches / public pools, and if so, what will that look like?
Beach- and parkgoers will not be tested before entering. Public pools and playgrounds remain shut.
Can mosquitoes transmit the coronavirus?
Can mosquitoes transmit the coronavirus?
You won’t have to worry about transmission from mosquitoes, experts say.
“To date there has been no information nor evidence to suggest that the new coronavirus could be transmitted by mosquitoes," the World Health Organization says on its website.
That’s because the respiratory system is the entry point. The virus attacks when someone breathes it in from another person who has exhaled, sneezed or coughed, or when they touch a contaminated surface and then transmit it to themselves by rubbing their eyes, nose or mouths, for instance, they say.