COVID Exposure Question

[RANGER295]

I have a question for people that are in the medical or EMS profession who may have real (as real as can be given the changing info) knowledge on COVID transmission. I have no interest in comments about how COVID is not that big a deal (mortality wise I agree) or political comments. I am just trying to help someone makes some personal decisions based on possible exposure.

I have to be very vague about who I specifically am talking about and the exact circumstances. I was just call the person questioning their exposure level "A". A couple of people enter a house and find a person who is deceased on a bed in the back room. Person "A" enters the front door and makes it about 6-8 steps into the front room when the people in the back room call out that the person is deceased as evident due to lividity. Person "A" then exits the front door and returns outside. Person "A" was in the house for a total of around 30 seconds. Due to body temperature and lividity the deceased was probably gone for 4-6 hours. About this time it is discovered that the deceased was COVID positive. There were no other COVID positive people in the house.


Does anyone know how great the risk of actual exposure (contracting COVID) is to person "A". One person EMS person told person "A" there was little to no risk and another said to quarantine. Thanks

[plumbum]

If the decedent was in the far end of a normal house and had stopped respirating for a few hours, chances of transmission are extremely minute to impossible for such a limited exposure window.
CDC says exposure happens within 6 feet and 15 minutes - and it doesn’t explicitly state it but I’m going to assume they meant both parties are breathing.

[GOEX FFF]

If the decedent was in the far end of a normal house and had stopped respirating for a few hours, chances of transmission are extremely minute to impossible for such a limited exposure window.
CDC says exposure happens within 6 feet and 15 minutes - and it doesn’t explicitly state it but I’m going to assume they meant both parties are breathing.

^ Makes a whole lotta sense to me.

Covid is spread through respiratory droplets from a person sneezing or coughing. It's not floating through the air like a looming poisonous mist, especially from a person who's been deceased for hours.

[nicky c]

As the others said, proximity and duration are the key elements.

The scenario as described, even with a breathing person has a low probability of transmission in that timeframe.

Did person A contact surfaces likely contaminated by the deceased?

[TheGood]

^ Makes a whole lotta sense to me.

Covid is spread through respiratory droplets from a person sneezing or coughing. It's not floating through the air like a looming poisonous mist, especially from a person who's been deceased for hours.

That's not true. It was determined to be an airborne disease (that transmits on particles that can remain suspended in air) a few months ago.

[SWalt]

Unless the deceased breathed into A's face, about 0% chance. Come on.....4 hrs dead and expect any aerosols from the deceased breathing to still be in the air? Houses are not airtight and air is not totally static.

[wildcard]

"Close contact" warranting quarantine is being within 6 ft for at least 15 min with a 24 hour period. Considering that the individual wasn't even breathing and their "infectious period" is unknown, Person A is safe.

[NATO762]

Get a test if you are that worried?

[sd_shooter]

Almost impossible to catch it from someone without symptoms.

I had the covid back in September, wifey slept next to me every night during that time. Hung out with the kids. No one else caught it.

The corpse didn't have symptoms, didn't cough on your friend, they're going to be fine (I know you're just "asking for a friend" )

[BenzBen]

Almost impossible to catch it from someone without symptoms.

I had the covid back in September, wifey slept next to me every night during that time. Hung out with the kids. No one else caught it.

The corpse didn't have symptoms, didn't cough on your friend, they're going to be fine (I know you're just "asking for a friend" )

Not true. My father-in-law gave Covid to his two brothers, who gave it to their wives and kids all before symptoms started.

Of note my FIL and his brothers apparently wore masks around each other at work but still spread it to each other.


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[BenzBen]

I have a question for people that are in the medical or EMS profession who may have real (as real as can be given the changing info) knowledge on COVID transmission. I have no interest in comments about how COVID is not that big a deal (mortality wise I agree) or political comments. I am just trying to help someone makes some personal decisions based on possible exposure.

I have to be very vague about who I specifically am talking about and the exact circumstances. I was just call the person questioning their exposure level "A". A couple of people enter a house and find a person who is deceased on a bed in the back room. Person "A" enters the front door and makes it about 6-8 steps into the front room when the people in the back room call out that the person is deceased as evident due to lividity. Person "A" then exits the front door and returns outside. Person "A" was in the house for a total of around 30 seconds. Due to body temperature and lividity the deceased was probably gone for 4-6 hours. About this time it is discovered that the deceased was COVID positive. There were no other COVID positive people in the house.


Does anyone know how great the risk of actual exposure (contracting COVID) is to person "A". One person EMS person told person "A" there was little to no risk and another said to quarantine. Thanks

[drclark]

If you are worried about exposure, ask a Dr for ivermectin.

You should be taking vitamin D daily along with quercetin and zinc.

Please look at the following link from East Virginia med school. It has recommended treatment protocol for pre/post exposure as well as if you test positive and are recovering at home.

https://www.evms.edu/media/evms_public/departments/internal_medicine/Marik-Covid-Protocol-Summary.pdf

"Prophylaxis
-Vitamin C 500 mg BID (twice daily) and Quercetin 250 mg daily
-Vitamin D3 1000-4000 u/day
-B complex vitamins
-Zinc 30-50 mg/day
-Melatonin (slow release): Begin with 0.3mg and increase as tolerated to 2 mg at night
-Ivermectin for postexposure prophylaxis (200 ug/kg immediately, then repeat on day 3) and prophylaxis in high-risk groups (200 ug/kg day 1, then day 3 and then every 4 weeks)"

Everything but ivermectin is a available over the counter.

[deckhandmike]

Most likely almost zero. Me and several coworkers spent twenty hours in a office the size of a walk in closet with a symptomatic coworker and no one else got sick. Don’t waste your time quarantining, it’s everywhere already. Quarantine only if you feel sick or test positive.

[Fate]

Mods can we move this to the Covid forum where it belongs? It’s taking up space that’s needed for our 4D chess and butt stuff threads. Thanks.

[MongooseV8]

From what the CDC and WHO have told us about the virus, person A has almost certainly been exposed and infected. The virus can survive on surfaces and suspended in air for many days. Covid is an exceptionally virulent strain. Thats why the CDC admitted recently that they think virtually everyone was already exposed by the end of 2019.