State Doctors Rank COVID-19 Risk for These Family Activities

From hugging to going to school to trick-or-treating and using a public restroom, the Illinois State Medical Society along with IMPACT (the Illinois Medical Professionals Action Team) surveyed doctors to find out how they would rate the risk of contracting COVID-19 in various activities. 

Ranking the activities from highest risk to lowest, hugging or shaking hands was the most risky for families, and wearing a mask lessens that risk, the physicians surveyed reported. 

Going inside a bar, even with a mask, was ranked the riskiest activity with attending an indoor religious service or concert with more than 50 people also high on the list. The rankings, first reported by WTTW, addressed that ordering takeout food is considered the least risky. 

“From the riskiest to least risky activities, there is significantly less risk when wearing a mask and social distancing,” says Dr. Robert. W. Panton, ISMS president, in a release by the society. 

Parents who are wondering about prepping for trick-or-treating this year, the doctors surveyed listed it as a lower exposure risk with a mask, but a medium exposure risk without a mask. Attending school is a higher risk than trick-or-treating, with or without a mask, the survey says.

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