Cotswolds

It is possible to have COVID-19 with no symptoms. You can pass COVID-19 on to others if you only have mild symptoms or even no symptoms at all.

The main way of spreading COVID-19 is through close contact with an infected person. When someone with COVID-19 breathes, speaks, coughs or sneezes, they release particles (droplets and aerosols) containing the virus that causes COVID-19. These particles can be breathed in by another person.

Researchers say infections can happen outdoors, but the chances are massively reduced and very low. Fresh air disperses and dilutes the virus. It also helps to evaporate the liquid droplets in which it is carried. On top of that, ultraviolet light from the sun should kill any virus that’s out in the open. Even so, there are a handful of cases where it’s believed that infections did happen outside (e.g. people talking face to face for a significant period of time).

If someone’s infected they’ll be releasing the virus as they breathe. Some of that will be carried in droplets, most of which will quickly fall to the ground but could reach your eyes, nose or mouth if you’re within 2m (6ft) of them. So the advice is to avoid being face-to-face if you’re that close. The infected person will also release smaller particles called aerosols. Indoors, these can accumulate in the air and be a hazard. Outside they should rapidly disperse.

Passing someone on a footpath or bridleway, means you’re close together for a few seconds at most. Fleeting encounters like this are highly unlikely to be long enough for the virus to reach you. However, going for a run with someone and following close behind them for 20 minutes or more, breathing in their slipstream, might be a problem. So the greatest risk is from the people you know – your team members.

Lab tests have shown that the virus could last for days on surfaces. However, in the real world, many scientists now think that the amount of virus likely to be left on a surface in this way would be minimal. While coronavirus can live for more than 24 hours in indoor environments, it is not likely to survive for long periods of time on outdoor surfaces in sunlight. The chance of transmission through inanimate surfaces is therefore very small, especially compared to other ways of spreading the virus.