Can I Catch Covid Outside?

Hi folks, it’s Kristen in Brooklyn. Here in New York, summer is in full swing, and I’ve been filling my weekends with park picnics. But in this week’s Q&A, one reader wonders whether outdoor events might still pose a risk of catching Covid. But before we get to that ...

Is it still very uncommon to get Covid from outdoor events? — Davey, Brooklyn, New York

This summer — our third in the pandemic — has seemed to defy the received wisdom about Covid’s spread. In the past, we’ve all breathed a sigh of relief at the prospect of finally socializing in the safety of the great outdoors during warm weather. Indoors means more chance of breathing in virus-laden particles from the air. Outside there is less risk, so ipso facto summer means less virus risk. Those are just the rules.

And yet, this summer, many places around the world have seen cases rise. Here in New York, the city health department is once again asking us to mask up amid rising cases. Europe is also at the center of a resurgence, the WHO says.

So what gives?

Part of the shift, says Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is due to the power of new Covid variants to spread.