Risk Management During COVID-19
How to Appropriately Manage Risk During COVID-19
There has been a lot of information circulating in the past few months on which activities are safe to continue doing and which should be limited or even eliminated during the current pandemic. Here at Colorado Institute of Sports Medicine we want to make sure that people have access to accurate information so that they are able to make smart and safe choices throughout their daily lives as we navigate through this issue together.
Below is a infographic to help you understand which activities put you at the most risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We put out the infographic above to make risk management easier to understand for the general public. It displays various activities from low to high risk to help people make responsible and safe decisions about the activities in which they choose to participate. This is a combination of information compiled from various sources and should not be taken as an exclusive list. We chose some of the most common activities to include in this graphic but every activity will have some level of risk during this pandemic. It is recommended to only participate in necessary activities at this time as we try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
There are many things that factor into the rankings of risk for all of these activities, however we included the main 4 on this graphic. The first is enclosed spaces. Being in enclosed rooms means that there is increased potential to become exposed to air containing the virus since there is less space for that air to escape. This only applies to being in a room with others, since you cannot always know who is carrying the virus. The next factor is the density of the crowd during any activity. This builds upon the first factor such that enclosed spaces with many individuals become more of a risk for exposure. When a crowd is more dense, the ability to appropriately distance (6 feet between individuals) can be lost and this can lead to increased risk. The duration of the interaction is also an important factor to consider since prolonged exposure to someone with the virus increases the chances of contracting it through contact or the air. The final main factor compounds with all previous factors; forceful exhalation. Things such as coughing, sneezing or yelling require an individual to exhale with more force than a normal breath and when a virus travels through droplets expelled into the air (such as with COVID-19), this may lead to increased infectivity.
In this uncertain time, it is important to weigh the risks throughout your day so that you are able to effectively protect yourself and those around you. When you must participate in any activity near other people, it is important to wear a mask to limit the chances of passing the virus. We hope this guide will help you be able to better understand the risks you will see in your daily life and allow you to make a well informed decision.