As the seasons change, so will the ways we move around in our lives in order to stay healthy and avoid the COVID-19 virus.
WEMU's Lisa Barry talks with Michigan Medicine infectious disease specialist Dr. Payal Patel about ways to stay healthy in colder weather and about whether or not any of the medical advice to avoid certain activities have really changed over the course of the pandemic.
As summer comes to an end, autumn weather is upon us, and soon it will be fall. Michigan Medicine infectious disease specialist Dr. Payal Patel says concerns about our health may seem a bit more daunting this year, due to our current global health crisis. She says there are things we can continue to do to protect our health, following recommendations we first heard about when the pandemic began as nothing has really changed with that. That includes thoroughly washing your hands and socially distancing from other people and gather outside as much as possible, even as the weather gets colder. She says being indoors makes it easier for any virus to spread.
Dr. Patel says she and most infectious disease experts she knows have not really sat inside a restaurant to eat to avoid exposure to the virus. She says outdoor dining and restaurant pickup is still advisable, especially as the weather gets cooler and colder.
She says it may be easy for some people to forget that we still don't have a treatment for COVID-19 or a cure yet, so nothing has really changed in dealing with the pandemic, which we are still in the middle of. She says the combination of COVID, the seasonal flu, and other wintertime viruses make it more important than ever for people to get a flu shot.
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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu
