I was lucky to have a box of 20 N95 masks left over from an industrial project before COVID-19 began. Since February I've assiduously worn one whenever I leave home (I've only two left now).
This video shows how the virus is able to spread more than six feet, especially so indoors. In an earlier post on COVID-19, I suggested a simple distancing rule that I use and that most people will understand from past experience, and it's one that they may wish to consider using — that's the cigarette smoke distance test.
Think about the maximum distance that you can be from a smoker and still be able to smell his/her exhaled cigarette smoke. If you can smell the smoke then you are breathing in air from that smoker's lungs and thus you may be at risk.
Most of us will say that that they can smell cigarette smoke at distance of at least 3 to 4 times the current safe distance of 6 feet or so, i.e.: some 18 - 24 feet (I venture that that distance may even be greater).
If say you are in a restaurant or small hall where smoking is still permitted then how far do you reckon you can smell someone smoking? Right, even if the person is diagonally across the room, you're likely to smell the smoke and that distance is well in excess of the recommended safe distance.
In addition to this video, several labs did similar tests earlier this year. One lab said that the virus was able travel 13 to 17 feet and the other, if I recall correctly, said about 27 feet—and that it can say active/on the wind for several hours. From those results, I reckon my smoking test distance isn't too far off the mark.
