Max Minute: Can Coronavirus Be Transmitted Through Sweat?
By Dr. Max Gomez
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - By now, we've all heard the term COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. But some people have been saying that COVID-19 really refers to how much weigh we're gaining, quarantined at home with little to do but eat, and with gyms closed, not many ways to exercise.
But now, as the weather warms up, parks and fitness centers starting to open up, the question is what happens when we sweat: Can we transmit the coronavirus?
The short answers is no.
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SARS-COVID-2, the technical name for the virus, is a respiratory virus that attacks our breathing passages and indirectly damages a number of organ systems but is not excreted in sweat.
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But, if you are exercising either outdoors or in a fitness center when one opens up, you and people around you will be breathing hard and expelling more of those usually invisible virus-laden droplets that can transmit COVID-19. And if the person near you isn't wearing a mask, then there's a good chance you're inhaling his or her exhaust.
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People have also been asking whether it will be safe to go back to a health club or fitness center when they finally open up. That depends on how fastidious your gym will be about disinfecting equipment and the entire facility, will they enforce social distancing and the wearing of masks or gloves.
Yes, going back to the gym will be riskier than staying home in most cases, but being a COVID-potato, not exercising and gaining weight can be as bad or worse for your health. So be smart, stay away from other exercisers, especially if they're not wearing masks, wipe down equipment yourself and start working off those "COVID-19."
For the top questions people have been asking about the coronavirus, visit cbsnewyork.com/max, and go to facebook.com/cbsnewyork to submit your question.
