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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCoronavirus at beaches? Surfers, swimmers should stay away, scientist says
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-02/coronavirus-ocean-swimming-surfing-safe-beaches-los-angeles?By Rosanna Xia Staff Writer
April 2, 2020
7 AM
UPDATED 7:18 AM
Kim Prather, a leading atmospheric chemist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, wants to yell out her window at every surfer, runner, and biker she spots along the San Diego coast.
I wouldnt go in the water if you paid me $1 million right now, she said.
The beach, in her estimation, is one of the most dangerous places to be these days, as the novel coronavirus marches silently across California.
Many beachgoers know they can suffer skin rashes, stomach illness and serious ear and respiratory infections if they go into the water within three days of a heavy rain, because of bacteria and pathogens washing off roads and into the ocean. Raw or poorly treated sewage entering the ocean also poses major health risks.
Prather fears that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could enter coastal waters in similar ways and transfer back into the air along the coast.
In her research, Prather has found that the ocean churns up all kinds of particulate and microscopic pathogens, and every time the ocean sneezes with a big wave or two, it sprays these particles into the air. She believes that this new coronavirus is light enough to float through the air much farther than we think. The six-feet physical distancing rule, she said, doesnt apply at the beach, where coastal winds can get quite strong and send viral particles soaring.
Its not going to kill you if you miss a few surfing sessions, but it could if you go out there and get in the wrong air, she said.
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Coronavirus at beaches? Surfers, swimmers should stay away, scientist says (Original Post)
diva77
Apr 2020
OP
Wow, did not think of this possibility, but it does make sense. Wonder if anyone on the beach ...
SWBTATTReg
Apr 2020
#1
SWBTATTReg
(22,137 posts)1. Wow, did not think of this possibility, but it does make sense. Wonder if anyone on the beach ...
will listen to her advice. I kind of doubt it, especially after seeing the idiots on Spring Break.
denbot
(9,900 posts)2. Rutt-Ro Rorge..
Last edited Sat Apr 4, 2020, 06:26 PM - Edit history (1)
A surfer in my town was fined $1,000 last week
for telling a cop Im gonna surf what are you going to do about it!
We figured since we compete for waves, and there are unwritten, and fiercely enforced group protocols as to whose wave it is, we are the ultimate outdoor social distancers.
Live and learn..
diva77
(7,643 posts)3. Sounds like the cop did that surfer and potential people he could infect a favor.
File it under Who woulda thunk it!.