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About Covid
Covid is a very infectious virus. If enough of the virus reaches your nose, mouth, and lungs, the virus will enter the body and cause an infection.
Covid spreads mainly in the air. Tiny particles of the virus float in the air like invisible smoke. If you breathe in enough of these tiny particles, you will catch the virus.
Covid gets into the air when it is breathed out by infected people.
Covid does not survive well in fresh, moving air. Even if an infected person breathes out Covid outdoors, the natural movement of the air will disperse the virus, and there is a very low risk that you will breathe in enough to get infected. Being outdoors is a safe place for not catching Covid.
Indoors, Covid can hang in the air for up to an hour. This means that if you go into a room where an infected person has been, you may still be able to breathe in enough virus to get infected, even though the infected person has left.
The way to make indoor air safer is to introduce fresh, moving air by opening windows and doors, or to filter the air using a HEPA filter which removes the virus from the air. When Covid infection levels are high (as they are now), it is safest to assume that all indoor places may contain infected air, unless they are well ventilated with fresh moving air and/or HEPA filters are being used.
If you cannot make indoor air safer with ventilation and/or filtration, you need to prevent the virus entering your nose and mouth. You do this by wearing a tight fitting personal protective equipment (PPE) mask certified FFP2/FFP3. These masks are scientifically designed to prevent viruses and bacteria from passing through the mask, but they do not prevent normal breathing. Athletes regularly train wearing these masks without any problems.
The Covid virus also lives inside the tiny water droplets that people breathe out. These droplets very quickly dry up and the virus falls onto the ground and surfaces. However, scientific studies have conclusively proven that it is very rare for people to catch Covid by touching a surface and then putting their hand in their mouth. It is theoretically possible, but in practice hardly ever happens. It is important to wash your hands regularly for lots of reasons, but washing your hands or using hand sanitiser will not protect you from catching Covid. Covid is in the air, and only precautions that reduce the airborne risk are effective.
Get Vaccinated!
Being fully vaccinated and boosted is your best protection against death or serious illness. The autumn 2022 booster programme has now ended, but a very limited number of people may be able to get a spring 2023 booster. Learn more here.
Currently, adults and teenagers can still get free vaccination if you haven’t had your first three ‘primary’ doses. If this is you, please ask your GP or book a vaccination online through the NHS app now. The latest research suggests that having your three primary doses of vaccine reduces your risk of developing Long Covid.
Wear A Protective Mask!
Wearing a protective face mask which filters the virus out of the air you breathe is another of the best ways to protect yourself from Covid. Wearing an FFP2 or N95 filter mask means that the air in your lungs is clean, even if there is lots of Covid in the air around you. BuDS recommends Cambridge Masks Co. If you can’t afford a mask, please contact us and we will see if we can help.