Risk level briefly outside?

[Viv0321]

What would you say the risk levels are, being outside briefly next to someone else without masks?

Covid is very very unlikely to get you from standing next to someone outside for a couple of minutes

Very low

Very low really. A) Outside B) they probably don't have the virus and C) brief.
I am a dedicated mask wearer but this would not unduly concern me OP.

Thankyou everyone

Brief contact within 2m is still v unlikely to spread infection, unless they were coughing & sneezing

They can't give you what they don't have, so risk also depends on the infection level in the area you were in

Zero. Statistically no different from zero.

Unless a positive person stood 30cms from your face and sneezed or coughed all over you, I would say near on impossible! Have you ever worried about catching a cold or the flu this way? From what I’ve read, you still need a decent amount of the virus passed onto you before there is any chance of proper infection.
I am in Paris where face masks are mandatory everywhere inside and out unless seated in a restaurant and I can’t tell you how ridiculous (or uncomfortable) it is to be walking along the river with nobody anywhere near you in a mask. Please don’t wish this on the UK. It has done nothing to control numbers in the city by all accounts.

It depends on whether the person you stand next to definitely has the virus and whether they coughed on you.

Virtually zero.

You just need to get the virus into your nose/mouth. If you are breathing expelled air of someone with CV. then you can get it.

The virus is incredibly tiny & it doesn't take many breaths to get enough to infect you. Someone couching etc will expel a lot more of the virus, so infect you quicker/easier.

Unfortunately, we don't know who is asymptomatic, it could just as easily be your mum/sister/boyfriend as a stranger.

Obviously the risk you're taking varies depending on whether you're in an area where (5/100, 000 are infected or 509/100,000) and remember the levels are higher than are being reported by the Govt.

All you can do is weigh up the risk/reward.

Neighbour wanting to stand too close & no masks -fuck off.

Neighbour needing help administering medication - I would (but still with masks).

Why no masks?

I'm really surprised were still discussing this 7 months in..
I can understand people feeling confused, but why hasn't there been better effort at communicating risk levels to the general public

Amelie- they got out of their car right next to their house and a neighbour was standing about 2-3 foot away from them, without them realising they were there. By then, it was too late.

They were getting something out of the car and when they turned around They were on top of them.