To think this cyclist was inconsiderate?

[Moomoomoomin]

We went on a walk early this morning through the meadows with the DC. My youngest DC had fallen over and I was giving him a hug and making sure he was okay.

A cyclist zoomed past very close to us. The path was very wide and he could have easily moved out of the way.

DH seems to think what the cyclist did was fine because he was going really fast and had overtaken us in a few seconds. He thinks the risk of him passing on coronavirus to us is slim to none.

I think the 2 metre rule is there for a reason and the cyclist should have swerved to the other side of the path. I know I will be looking out for symptoms in us all for the next two weeks.

A petty thing to disagree on but who is right?

OP, please don't let your anxiety mean that you choose to listen to the one slightly batty reply on this thread (Vegan's) and disregard all the other, sensible ones!

In this case the risk was of being mown down, not infected. He was inconsiderate because he was acting as though he had first entitlement to all the space and maintaining his speed was more important than anyone else's well being, but most lycra clad hobby cyclists are egotistical and self centered (as evidenced by the way so many of them treat their families).

The majority are inconsiderate twats all year round if you ask me.

Moomoo my dsd is frontline NHS and would definitely agree with the majority of posters here, not VeganVeal.

I’m NHS frontline (if it matters) and I totally agree with your DH.

Well, the point of the moving away from people is to relieve the anxiety of people like the OP, but yes the taking offence is silly.

Agreed. When I am out, I am not actually worried about contracting it from someone passing me going the other way, but I stand well aside because I can't stand the thought of causing someone two weeks of worry.

Coronavirus or not I’d like a cyclist to give me 2m slave when whizzing past regardless !!

YANBU to be concerned, it is a stressful time and we're all worried, but I doubt the risk was very high. The cyclist should've known better but what's done is done. I don't think you need to self-isolate because of it. Please don't stop going out for walks, the risk of catching it from walks is much lower than the benefit of lovely walks outside. Try to put it out of your mind xxx

The cyclist was inconsiderate however the risk of catching anything from someone spending 2 seconds close to you is so extremely low as to be almost impossible.

It's fine to walk past people closer than 2m if there's no other option as long as you do it quickly and don't lick their face.

You have to be closer than 2m to someone for several minutes before you're at significant risk.

PotholeParadise thank you. I wish more people were as considerate as you.

I have a natural sciences degree and work in the NHS but am not a clinician. I have however, read far far too many scientific publications about Covid-19.

There is never zero risk at all, and we can't eliminate all risk. But the risk from this is low. In normal circumstances, interacting entirely normally, an infected person would on average infect 2-4 people with Covid-19. This would be over the entire course of the infectious period (so less than one person a day). Almost all of those people will be family members, friends they've spent time with or work colleagues. Almost all of the time it won't be random members of the public that you passed for a second or two (but very occasionally it might be).

The risk from this encounter is extremely low. The cyclist was still inconsiderate but your husband is right, the risk is very limited and you don't need to worry.

"I just wish I knew how dangerous being so close to someone even for a few seconds is? I don’t want to be overly anxious but surely they are the rules for a reason?"

I was listening to Radio Five Live yesterday, Adrian Chiles had Dr Chris Smith on answering questions not dissimilar to your worry. He described the risk as 'infinitesimal' - which means 'close to zero'. He's the expert and I found it very reassuring.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000h765 - it was at about 2hr 23min into the programme.

Nacreous

That was incredibly well explained. I want to be like you when I grow up!

I have multiple degrees in infectious disease. I'm not an epidemiologist, but I have studied epidemiology in some depth during those degrees. I agree with those saying the risk from such an encounter is tiny - the cyclist was rude to cut so close to you, and probably going to fast for the circumstances, but they're incredibly unlikely to have passed the virus onto you, even if they were infected themselves.

Obviously, if you're that anxious, you may not believe posters on here about their qualifications or their understanding of the virus, but it's statistically unlikely we're all lying!

Probably unlikely in the nanosecond this extremely fast cyclist whizzed by you think he’s infected you and your child?

Meh, he could have passed wider but most of us can can barely leave our homes without this scenario so I'd probably not bother starting a post about it. I do understand your annoyance though