Teaching3bears Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 I heard that people were told not to swim in the ocean or even go near the ocean because the virus lives in ocean water and ocean spray. Does anyone know if it will live there indefinitely or die after 14 days? Why is it not killed by the water/salt combo if it can be killed by water and soap? I have heard that it can travel quite quickly across the ocean? If this is true, does restricting air travel help? What about other bodies of water? Will we be able to swim in lakes and rivers this summer if beaches reopened? What about summer 2021? Have ther tested the tap water for covid-19? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 nonsense. Even if true, dilution would have an impact. Stay off the beaches bc people shouldn’t be hanging out at the beaches during a pandemic. 14 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 Sunshine is an amazing disinfectant. But people should be hanging out on the beach. It has nothing to do with the water. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 (edited) All viruses are transmitted primarily from host to host, not through other vectors such as the water supply. In the case of covid-19 humans are the primary host, and transmission happens primarily through close contact with other humans. There have been zero known transmissions through water. No virus has ever been known to cross the ocean and infect a person on the other side. Some viruses may remain active for a time in water but there is no reason to be afraid of your drinking water. No one is dumping vats of active virus into the water supply; water does not normally come in contact with people shedding virus between the treatment plant and your home. If someone with covid-19 sneezes into your cup of water don't drink it; get a new cup and stay away from people who are sneezing. Edited April 6, 2020 by maize 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Teaching3bears said: I heard that people were told not to swim in the ocean or even go near the ocean because the virus lives in ocean water and ocean spray. Does anyone know if it will live there indefinitely or die after 14 days? Why is it not killed by the water/salt combo if it can be killed by water and soap? I have heard that it can travel quite quickly across the ocean? If this is true, does restricting air travel help? What about other bodies of water? Will we be able to swim in lakes and rivers this summer if beaches reopened? What about summer 2021? Have ther tested the tap water for covid-19? This makes no sense to me either. Because dilution. And while a virus may not "die" in the water, it also *cannot make more of itself there*. So, if someone sneezes a few, or even 100 viruses out their nose into the water, that is all there will ever be, assuming not even one ever 'dies'. Unless new sick people sneeze more viruses into the ocean. Viruses are not alive and cannot 'live' anywhere, just hang out in stasis waiting for a healthy cell to invade. I'm having a hard time understanding how many sick people need to sneeze into the ocean for there to be enough concentrated virus in the spray to have it infect a new person. Edited April 6, 2020 by Matryoshka 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acorn Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 People were crowding the beaches which led to closing beaches. Also, by restricting swimming and surfing there is less need for emergency rescue or medics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 What everyone else said. But also, I wouldn’t use the term “killed” for soap and water. Viruses and bacteria are washed away by soap and water. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 38 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said: What everyone else said. But also, I wouldn’t use the term “killed” for soap and water. Viruses and bacteria are washed away by soap and water. Viruses can't be killed because they aren't considered living, but soap does more than wash them away. Soap breaks apart the lipid bilayer that contains the parts of the virus and the pieces can not function on their own. Bacteria are more complicated. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Carrie12345 said: What everyone else said. But also, I wouldn’t use the term “killed” for soap and water. Viruses and bacteria are washed away by soap and water. As Susan said, "killed" isn't technically an accurate term for viruses because they aren't ever really alive, but soap does not just wash them away--it inactivates them by tearing apart their outer protective later. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 (edited) The only thing I've seen that even comes close it people being told to stay away from beaches because of wind. The virus is airborne and it's usually windy by the water. So, someone sneezes and the wind might - just might - be able to carry the droplets farther than the 6ft. social distance. Even that is theoretical and there haven't been any known cases of such a thing actually happening. As far as it living in the ocean and crossing to the other side, or even infecting someone swimming at the same beach. No. Edited April 6, 2020 by Lady Florida. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Lady Florida. said: The only thing I've seen that even comes close it people being told to stay away from beaches because of wind. The virus is airborne and it's usually windy by the water. So, someone sneezes and the wind might - just might - be able to carry the droplets farther than the 6ft. social distance. Even that is theoretical and there haven't been any known cases of such a thing actually happening. As far as it living in the ocean and crossing to the other side, or even infecting someone swimming at the same beach. No. So my question with this is whether the wind makes it more likely to spread or more likely to dissipate, disperse, and disappear? I have been operating under the assumption that being outdoors (in my own huge yard) is safer/healthier than being in a closed room. What do you think? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teaching3bears Posted April 7, 2020 Author Share Posted April 7, 2020 https://www.thedailybeast.com/uc-san-diego-virus-expert-surfing-may-increase-your-risk-of-getting-the-coronavirus Here is an article about surfing. I guess it is the wind, which scares me. On a few occasions I was more than 6 feet away from someone on a walk and the wind was blowing towards me and I could smell their perfume or shampoo. What about swimming in a lake or river? is that safe if there are other people there? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoeless Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 You aren't going to catch COVID-19 from swimming in a body of water. You can potentially catch it if you are too close for too long with an infected person. The reason that beaches were closed down is because there were too many infected people getting too close to other people on the beach. The virus cannot travel across the ocean all by itself. It traveled around the world because infected people got on planes and boats and spent time in close proximity to other people on the plane and boat, who then got off the planes and boats and mingled with people in new locations. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 (edited) no message Edited April 7, 2020 by Tap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 no message Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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