If you encounter joggers or cyclists in parks, you should search more than 1.5 meters away to avoid a coronavirus infection. This has now been found in a new study.
- In contrast to other countries, Germany still allows individual sport.
- A study from Belgium and the Netherlands now provides clues to important distance rules against transmission of the coronavirus * .
- It is still unclear whether politics will react.
Eindhoven / Leuven - In Germany jogging and cycling are still allowed during the corona crisis - in contrast to other countries *. It is recommended to keep a distance of at least two meters from other athletes. In reality this is very often not possible in times when parks and walking paths are the only leisure facilities open.
Scientists from the universities of Eindhoven (Netherlands) and Leuven (Belgium) are now presenting a study that deals with the spread of droplets while running or cycling. The results suggest that the droplets may fly further than 1.5 meters - much further.
Coronavirus: New study on distance rules when jogging
"If you run or ride a bike and exhale as you do it, numerous micrometer-sized droplets are expelled," study leader Bert Blocken told Deutsche Welle on the phone. If you meet an infected person while exercising, it is possible to infect them. In the study, people in different constellations were run together or allowed to ride a bike and the droplets were made visible with special light, says Blocken.
We need blocked roads and more space, the ADFC Cologne then demanded on Twitter:
Study recommends 4-5 meters distance when jogging, 10-20 meters when cycling. We now need blocked roads with # MehrPlatzFürMenschen instead of narrow single file paths # Covid19 https://t.co/9qTihHujAe
- ADFC Cologne (@ADFCKoeln) April 9, 2020Numerous media took up the study, the uncertainty among recreational athletes increased - but also the criticism of the study.
Coronavirus: The main results of the Jogger study
The main criticism of the study: the study directors went public before - as usual - other scientists had confirmed the results. Since the politicians did not want to withhold the results, they skipped this step, according to the makers of the study.
(8/8) Final communication until appearance of peer-reviewed publication. List of questions & answers to remove some persistent misunderstandings about our study: https: //t.co/FHzhHVeWrX#coronavirus #CoronavirusOutbreak #COVID ー 19 #corona # COVID19 @TUeindhoven @LeuvenU pic.twitter.com/dFacMniLlZ
- Bert Blocken (@realBertBlocken) April 12, 2020After some misinterpretation in the media, the study directors made it clear that they did not want to make any statements about transmissions of the virus * , only to provide details about the trajectory of the droplets.
The most important finding remains from this study: If you walk or ride a bicycle in the slipstream, i.e. directly behind another person, you will get the exhaled droplets of that person even at a greater distance - see above. The faster the front person moves, the further the droplets fly. The droplets do not fly that far towards people walking sideways or diagonally, or cycling - provided that it is not very windy.
The ideal distance is therefore ideally:
- 20 meters when people are cycling at 20km / h
- Ten meters when people jog quickly
- Five meters when people walk quickly
* Merkur.de is part of the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editors network.