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> hang out with their buddies in the sunshine or something equally risky Spending time with people outdoors, especially in sunshine, is not risky, and for regi

> hang out with their buddies in the sunshine or something equally risky Spending time with people outdoors, especially in sunshine, is not risky, and for regions with serious outbreaks is an ideal way of finding compromise between keeping people isolated when indoors and allowing people some much needed social interaction. I'm from Melbourne Australia which is just coming out of one of the longest/strictest lockdowns in the world, and all the evidence has been that letting people have some social interaction in the outdoors is beneficial to people's mental health and not a contributor to viral spread.

xenophonf 6y ago
Q.E.D.
- tomhoward 6y ago
  Our state has completely eradicated the virus. Zero cases for nearly 5 weeks, with 10-20k tests each day, from 700+ cases per day in July/August. The outbreak was painstakingly contact-traced, transmission patterns modeled in great detail. The transmissions were indoors; initially in workplaces and homes, then it tore through aged care homes. Transmission outdoors just wasn't a factor. The government still imposed limits on how much outdoor interaction could happen, and mandated masks after things got bad, but the number of outdoor transmissions didn't change; it was always insignificant. Indoor contact was clearly the driver. To be fair, the facts here probably don’t contradict your point much; severe restrictions were imposed, and adhered to by our largely compliant population, including significant limits on outdoor contact (exercise with only one person outside one's household for up to one hour per day) and requirements for distancing and mask-wearing. Incidentally, Melbourne is the only large city in Australia that has cool/dark winters and a high incidence of Vitamin D deficiency, and was the only city to have a major covid outbreak. The other (warmer/sunnier/higher Vit D) cities didn’t limit outdoor contact at all, and had no trouble preventing outbreaks.

xenophonf 6y ago

Q.E.D.

tomhoward 6y ago
Our state has completely eradicated the virus. Zero cases for nearly 5 weeks, with 10-20k tests each day, from 700+ cases per day in July/August. The outbreak was painstakingly contact-traced, transmission patterns modeled in great detail. The transmissions were indoors; initially in workplaces and homes, then it tore through aged care homes. Transmission outdoors just wasn't a factor. The government still imposed limits on how much outdoor interaction could happen, and mandated masks after things got bad, but the number of outdoor transmissions didn't change; it was always insignificant. Indoor contact was clearly the driver. To be fair, the facts here probably don’t contradict your point much; severe restrictions were imposed, and adhered to by our largely compliant population, including significant limits on outdoor contact (exercise with only one person outside one's household for up to one hour per day) and requirements for distancing and mask-wearing. Incidentally, Melbourne is the only large city in Australia that has cool/dark winters and a high incidence of Vitamin D deficiency, and was the only city to have a major covid outbreak. The other (warmer/sunnier/higher Vit D) cities didn’t limit outdoor contact at all, and had no trouble preventing outbreaks.