Burioni: outdoor contagions rare, reopen outdoor theaters and restaurants now

An unexpected call for the immediate reopening of bars, restaurants, theaters, and cinemas (outdoors, however) comes from virologist at Milan’s Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and web star Roberto Burioni, one of the scientists most present on social media and television since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Burioni relies on evidence that cases of contagion outside are very rare: “In this year we have learned so many more things about contagion and its modalities,” he said Sunday night on the program Che tempo che fa. "For example, we know that surfaces are not particularly important, we know that the virus is not transmitted very efficiently outdoors (this may have been the reason for the drop during the summer months, months in which people stay more in restaurants outsideoutdoors and anyway stay less indoors) however what we know now is that this virus is transmitted in a very, very efficient way in any closed environment and it is not only transmitted with those droplets that we used to call and call droplets (the ones that make a few centimeters) it is also transmitted with areosols.

Several studies produced in recent weeks (in Ireland, for example, it was found that only 0.1 percent of infections occurred outdoors) have concluded that outdoor contagion is a remote occurrence, and always comes anyway after prolonged contact with a person already carrying the virus. “The data indicate that outdoor contagion is very rare,” Burioni reiterated on Twitter, then intervening directly on the issue of reopenings: “Why, with the arrival of the warm season, not reopen bars, restaurants and even theaters outdoors right away, not skimping on permits? I wouldn’t mind dining outside or attending a concert in my coat!” And to those who pointed out to him that perhaps it could have been pointed out much earlier that infection is rare outdoors, the virologist responded in these terms, “Why didn’t you say earlier that outdoor activities are less dangerous? Because the data that allow me to say that they are less dangerous have only been available for a few days, and I am not in a position to predict the future.”

Burioni: outdoor contagions rare, reopen outdoor theaters and restaurants now

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.