COLUMBUS, Ohio — Every Wednesday, Dr. Iahn Gonsenhauser, from OSU’s Wexner Medical Center, will be answering viewer questions. Below is our roundup of Q&A from this week.
QUESTION: I heard people with low vitamin D who get the coronavirus tend to experience worse symptoms. Is this true?
ANSWER: “So I haven’t seen that represented in any of the scientific literature, but it would follow and would make sense to me. Vitamin D is really important. Many people don’t know that they are vitamin D deficient and it has an impact on a lot of things in your life. So I wouldn’t be surprised if you experience symptoms that are a little bit more uncomfortable if you are vitamin D deficient.”
QUESTION: I want to be able to go to a restaurant patio now that they're open, but I'm nervous. What do you recommend we do to eliminate our risk of getting COVID while dining out?
ANSWER: “I think the thing for people to remember is that open air is safer than indoors in regards to transmission, but a big part of going out to restaurants and dining is who your with. The best thing you can do is go and have that dining experience with the people you have been quarantining with as opposed to a new group of people who are potentially going to expose you to greater contacts and more likelihood of the virus. If you’re with people you’ve been quarantined with, then social distance from the tables around you. If it’s a group of new people, you really want to try to maintain that distance between each person at the table as well."
QUESTION: Should we be bringing disinfectant with us? What about silverware and cups? Should we be worried about that?
ANSWER: “The utensils, the table, and the environment, these are still not things that are considered huge risk for transmission. Certainly not going to hurt if you bring some disinfectant spray or hand sanitizer. You’re going to want to make sure that your hands are really really appropriately cleaned. Sanitize after you’ve interacted with the environment, picked up silverware, touch the salt shaker, those kinds of things. You’re going to want to use some hand sanitizer and good hand hygiene after doing that."
QUESTION: We've seen reports that some customers at restaurants and bars are not social distancing or wearing masks. Some people say it's their choice to do so. But aren't they increasing the chances of this spreading even more to everyone?
ANSWER: "Yes they are. Period. Taking precautions in public spaces is a choice. Nobody is mandating that you wear a mask. Many of us wish that we were mandating that because it would certainly reduce the risk of transmission. So I would hope that the vast majority of people, if not everybody, is going to make that choice. But simply put, if you are choosing not to engage in social distancing, if you were choosing not to mask up in public spaces, you are increasing the risk of transmission in spread of this virus."
QUESTION: I can't wait for gyms to open back up, but at the same time it scares me to think about how many things people touch while working out, people sweating, and heavy breathing. Is there any way for me to ensure I stay safe and then don't bring something home to my family?
ANSWER: "So gyms are really tough environments. We’ve shown through some scientific literature that when you are engaged in exercise, particularly vigorous exercise, your propensity for spread of respiratory droplets is increased. The distance they travel is increased and that 3 to 6 feet is no longer adequate, so gyms are very tough place. It’s also really difficult to exercise with a mask on. So everything about a gym makes it a challenging environment to control the spread of a virus. As far as things you can do personally, again, hand hygiene, adequate spacing, if you can wear a mask, wear a mask. When you get home, launder all of your gym clothes, leave your shoes outside, take a shower and get cleaned up. Not that close or shoes are going to be necessarily a big transmission vector but every precaution is going to be necessary because, again, it’s a pretty high-risk environment. So gyms, you have to be really cautious."
If you have anything you would like for Dr. Gonsenhauser to answer, be sure to send us your question.
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You can catch Dr. Gonsenhauser’s answers every Wednesday, beginning at 6 a.m. You can also follow him on social media @DrGTheMD.
Wexner Medical Center is continuing to update their blog with helpful articles.