International- Residents in states with stay-at-home orders are venturing outdoors as the weather grows warmer and states reopen parks, beaches, and other public spaces.
- Experts encourage spending time outside for mental and physical
health , and suggest cities make extra spaces available so people can practice social distancing when they leave their homes. - Meanwhile, some state leaders have warned that if social distancing measures aren't maintained by those flocking outdoors, there could be a spike in new
coronavirus cases. - Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Kathy Kass and her boyfriend share an apartment in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan — not far from
They've both personally known someone who has died from COVID-19.
Anick Jesdanun, the longtime Associated Press reporter who died from the novel coronavirus at the age of 51, was in the same running group as Kass. And her boyfriend, a teacher, knew singer-songwriter Alan Merrill, who died of COVID-19 at the age of 69 in late March.
Although Kass, a New York lawyer and fitness blogger, doesn't currently run due to knee issues, she has turned to outdoor walks to stay healthy. Throughout the duration of New York's "PAUSE" order, which continues to order residents to work from home and avoid unnecessary travel, she has visited New York City parks to exercise as they have remained open to visitors despite the state "stay-at-home" mandate.
But as winter comes to an end and temperatures rise, Kass said she's noticed she's not the only one leaving her home to spend some time outdoors.
"There were massive amounts of people ... it's just crazy" Kass said of her April 19 trip to Central Park when it was 61°F, according to Weather Underground. In the following months, temperatures could be more than 20°F higher, as the average high temperature during the month of July is about 89°F.
Kass — who shared photos of the crowded park on Twitter — said she saw what looked to be "small groups of people" throughout the park. Most weren't wearing face masks, she said, except for some people walking, some runners, and about half of the cyclists she spotted.
—Kathy - Will Run For Miles ♀️✈️ (@katruns26point2) April 19, 2020
Kass said she resented "the fact that I'm the one who wants to exercise but I can't do what's supposed to be allowed because everyone is congregating."
To avoid crowds of people, she recommended visiting the park "very early or very late" in the day. Kass said she would turn away from the park if she sees it's too crowded, or she will try to find a less-crowded path. And if there are too many people on a sidewalk, she has found herself running in the street to avoid the New Yorkers who aren't appropriately distancing.
It's not necessarily surprising that New Yorkers, who have been told to stay at home since March 22, are getting stir-crazy, and heading outdoors.
Video also posted to Twitter on April 19 showed New Yorkers ignoring social distancing restrictions in a Brooklyn park when the weather was nice. Eyewitnesses said police did little to disperse the crowd, though a city spokesperson said officers asked anyone who wasn't wearing a face mask to leave, according to the New York Post.
The NYPD has issued over 240 violations for people found in violation of social distancing guidelines and arrested people found breaking the social distancing mandate. Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced hefty fines as $1,000 to discourage people from gathering in groups as the weather becomes nicer.
New Yorkers aren't alone in wanted to leave their homes. Last week, minutes after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that some beaches and parks in his state could reopen less than three weeks into his statewide stay-home order, hundreds of locals flooded the sand.
Meanwhile, across the country, hundreds and thousands of people are increasingly protesting their state's stay-at-home orders — many without masks and in violation of social distancing guidelines — demanding businesses reopen. Trump defended the protesters, calling them "good people" who were suffering from "cabin fever." As new cases of the coronavirus seem to plateau in some areas of the countries, 16 states are planning to begin their reopening processes next week.
As states set to reopen, some leaders have suggested that warmer temperatures could help stop the spread of COVID-19
On Friday, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman suggested — without evidence — that Las Vegas' extreme summer temperatures could help qualm the "ferocity" of the spread of COVID-19.
"Our hot summer coupled with our unique economy compel us to be at the forefront of America's 'reopening,'" the Las Vegas Mayor's statement read.
As early as February President Trump had suggested that sunlight would "kill" the novel coronavirus.
"The virus that we're talking about having to do, a lot of people think that goes away in April, with the heat, as the heat comes in, typically that will go away in April," Trump said in February, according to The New York Times.
During a press conference Thursday, in which Trump suggested that an "injection" of disinfected products could treat COVID-19, the president questioned whether ultraviolet light could be injected "inside the body ... through the skin or some other way" to kill the virus in an infected person.
"There is some evidence that, in general, viruses on surfaces die more quickly when exposed directly to sunlight. But we don't know how much or how long they have to be exposed for UV light to have an effect," the president said, which he later claimed had been done in "sarcasm." "And again, this is only about infected objects and surfaces - not about what happens once the virus is inside your body."
While strains of influenza and other coronaviruses are known to typically weaken in warm and humid climates, there is no proof that warmer temperatures will have the same impact on the novel coronavirus.
"One should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather" Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Thursday on Good Morning America. "You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing."
Experts say access to the outdoors is vital during the pandemic and will be critical as temperatures rise
While state leaders who have placed residents on lockdown orders have specifically told residents outdoor trips are admissible — so long as they continue to act safely and practice social distancing — experts agree that exercise and access to the outdoors are vital to both physical and mental health during the ongoing crisis.
As Business Insider reported, health professionals and city officials aren't discouraging people who are healthy from going outside and exercising — which a recent study suggested that may be beneficial in preventing one of the most serious COVID-19 symptoms — and call for people to stop shaming others for going outside.
People can still go outside while quarantining and sheltering in place, Business Insider reported, so long as they take precautions, like keeping a safe distance from others and wearing a mask, spreading or contracting the novel coronavirus is highly unlikely in open air.
"I don't need to quote a study to let you know that if you've been inside all day, a little time outdoors will improve your mood," Dr. Jebidiah Ballard, an emergency medicine physician, previously told Business Insider. "Vitamin D also plays a role in immune function, and sunlight is needed for our bodies to convert it to its active form."
Green spaces in urban areas especially need to stay open despite the apparent risks of crowds, Robin Mazumder, a cognitive neuroscience Ph.D. candidate at the University of Waterloo in Ontario who studies how urban design and cities affect "how we feel and function," told Business Insider.
Mazumder said as temperatures increase in the coming weeks and months, parks and other outdoor spaces will need to remain open, especially to city residents who live without access to air conditioning.
"How reasonable is it going to be for people to stay cooped up in their homes when it's 40°C (104°F) outside and humidity is through the roof?" he said.
"They're going to have to deal with this problem if they don't address it now," Mazumder told Business Insider, suggesting city leaders close streets to vehicle traffic to provide people with more space to go outside and keep their distance from one another.
"Parks are essential at this time," Anessa Hodgson, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, told Insider, adding that visitors were encouraged to practice "common sense" and maintain six feet of distance between each other.
So far, Hodgson said, onsite staff at city parks had observed that parkgoers were following social distancing guidelines.
As this weekend marks sunny weather and more than 40 days Californians have been under a shelter-in-place order, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday pleaded residents to continue practicing social distancing if they venture outdoors, warning against a potential spike in coronavirus cases.
"We're walking into a very warm weekend," Newsom said. "People are prone to want to go to the beaches, parks, playgrounds and go on a hike, and I anticipate there will be significant increase in volume."
"But I also think if there is and people aren't practicing physical distancing, I'll be announcing again these numbers going back up," Newsom continued. "I don't think anybody wants to hear that. I don't want to share that information, but that's really less up to me it's more up to all of you."
Insider's Kat Tenbarge contributed to this report.
Read the original article on Insider