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Coronavirus FAQs: Is It Safer To Fly Or Drive? Is Air Conditioning A Threat? - NPR
May 30, 2020 2 mins, 1 sec

Regardless of whether you fly or drive, Wu says that the first thing to keep in mind is that until a vaccine is developed and proven effective, it's impossible to fully mitigate all the coronavirus risks, including those associated with traveling.

If you feel you need to take a trip, one main benefit of driving is that it gives you a greater sense of control over your surroundings — although that doesn't mean it's necessarily safer than flying.

That eliminates the risks of staying in an indoor space where you could come into contact with others.

But in most situations, [the virus] is not viable after several days," says Wu.

"So if you have a room that's been empty for four or five days or even more, [that's] better."?

Gostin also suggests staying in your room as much as possible.

One of the biggest risks of flying is that it's hard to predict how full a flight might be or how much you'll be able to socially distance from other passengers and employees, even as airlines make efforts to minimize close contact.

Read more about the risks of flying — and safety precautions you can take — here.

The same prevention tactics apply to train or bus travel as flying — wash hands often, wipe down surfaces before you touch them and avoid removing your mask?

Could the droplets travel through the air-handling system in an apartment or condo building and into another unit, potentially infecting the neighbors.

Abraar Karan, physician at Harvard Medical School, says the chances of getting sick from particles being spread from one room to another through the air conditioning system seems unlikely.

William Bahnfleth, engineering professor at Penn State University and chair of the Epidemic Task Force for American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, says it does not seem likely that you could get sick from the AC in your building.

They can move from place to place in a building, either through the air conditioning system or just on air currents under the influence of pressure differences in the building," he says.

As we learn more about the virus, it's possible that the guidance related to air conditioning systems will change

But for now, Landon says it's not a primary concern for the spread of COVID-19

"The preponderance of the evidence suggests that [getting infected through air conditioning systems] should not be a problem, but it's a new virus," says Landon

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