Measures for running safely
Doing sport is healthy, but you must adopt the right habits to reduce the possibility of transmitting COVID-19.
Since being able to go out running again, many people have taken out the trainers they had to put away due of confinement. However, certain measures must taken in this so-called ‘new normal’. Running again after stopping for a while is always a challenge, but you’ll now be faced with new measures. To begin with, the social distance you have to keep from other people must be greater than the distance before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some measures for safely practising sport:- Don’t touch anything. From the time you leave the house until you come back, avoid coming into direct contact with anything (railings, benches, public places, etc.) and avoid touching your face with your hands. This way, the virus won’t travel into your house.
- Choose low-traffic areas and wide paths. Try to avoid routes where many athletes go, so you can maintain greater social distance, allowing you to comply with the recommended safety measures. If your usual routes are saturated, try elsewhere.
- Increase social distancing. The new safe distance recommended by experts is 10 metres. This way, particles in the air while you’re running will not be able to reach another person’s body or clothing before they hit the ground. Also, avoid running with others; but if you do, run parallel, diagonally or behind the other person to reduce the risk of transmission.
- Take safety measures when you return home. When you arrive, don’t touch anything until you wash your hands. Then your clothes should go in the washing machine and you in the shower. Also, disinfect your shoes with disinfectant or alcohol.
By taking these measures we can run more safely without endangering anyone. Remember what the writer Samuel Smiles said: ‘Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it’.Sources:
-
- Medical Text
- ‘Towards aerodynamically equivalent COVID19 1.5 m social distancing for walking and running’. Leuven University Study, 2020.
- Ministry of Health
This post is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)