Can I Go To A Small Dinner Party? Brigham And Women's Hospital Epidemiologist Weighs In

BOSTON (CBS) -- As Massachusetts continues to reopen, opportunities that we haven't had in months, like dining out, are available again. Dr. Paul Sax, an epidemiologist from Brigham and Women's Hospital, tells WBZ-TV what he would be comfortable doing.

When would you feel comfortable taking a vacation that say, within driving distance where you would stay at a hotel or an Airbnb or a summer rental?

Well, I think it's a kind of depends on where these vacations are taken to. Right now, fortunately, in the United States, most of the United States is experiencing a decrease in cases but there are some regions that still have an increase. I would try to avoid traveling to one of those places. But the kind of vacation that you described: getting in the car, driving to Airbnb or driving to a hotel, those should be relatively safe. And with the of course caveat that nothing in this era is 100% safe, but those should be relatively safe right now because you're not really subjecting yourself to the most dangerous situations, which are crowds.

So if you were driving to Cape Cod, for instance, to a rental cottage, and you took the normal precautions that you would at home, you think you'd be fine?

Yes, I do.

Many people have been going over to neighbor's and social distancing in the yard, is that safe? How about attending a small dinner party inside someone's house?

So that's a tricky one because outdoor activities are clearly much safer than indoor activities. What we've known from these terrible super spreader events is that all it takes is one person who has the infection, to spread it to multiple others if that person is in that contagious phase, which is the first few days right before and after they get COVID-19 so indoor activities right now are tricky with crowds with a group of other people. If it's a very small group, it's better. If it's just one other couple or two other couples, especially if they also have been healthy and practicing social distancing. But I would avoid indoor dinner parties for now.

How about sending kids to camp?

I've mixed feelings about the situation with children. I just want to say that I'm married to a pediatrician and she has mixed feelings about this too. We both know that children do not seem to get this virus as seriously as older adults do. That's the good news. What's a little less clear from the data is whether they can catch it and then spread it to older individuals and that would be a potential concern. On the other hand, it's so important for children to have these activities that we don't want to keep them sequestered at home while the weather's good, and they want to play with their friends so I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I think overall, it makes sense at this point with the number of new cases down to go ahead with camps and schools.

Do you think that the precautions that have been given to daycare centers will be effective?

I think they're necessary. I hope they're effective. Obviously, we know that kids don't always have the best sanitation. On the other hand, they are as mostly protected from getting severe COVID, there are a few isolated cases of this severe inflammatory syndrome but mostly they get either asymptomatic infection or no serious illness at all.

If you were going to send kids on a playdate, would you just tell them they have to stay outside the whole time?

That would make a lot of sense to stick to outdoor activities as best you can. I do want to say that, you know, people are going to say well what about using the bathroom? Well, you know If you're going to be inside for very short periods of time, that's also quite safe. It's really the prolonged time indoors that we have seen in things like concerts and restaurants and bars that have been dangerous.

Many people have successfully worked from home, but others want to get back to their office, even with the lower numbers. How about work in a shared office? Should you wear a mask the whole time? Or are you okay, as long as you're six feet away from other people at work?

In general, I think masks in public are going to be kind of the way we go forward for quite some time, that would include masks within a shared office. I do understand that it's difficult, but right now, that would be our recommendation. There are some people who are substituting face shields for masks in that context and that's because face shields are very effective in preventing the spread of virus to others and also protect yourself somewhat and they're a bit more comfortable for certain individuals. Plus, you know, you can sip your coffee and you could eat, etc. So I think there's some infectious disease specialists really support the use of face shields as a substitute for masks sometimes,

It is OK to go on a hike, or a picnic outdoors with friends?

I think that's one of the best ways of expanding your social circle is to go on a hike, is to meet your friends for a picnic, because the virus gets dispersed so readily in outdoor settings that it's really very, very difficult to imagine a situation where it get transmitted. So I'm a strong advocate for those activities. I'm also a huge advocate for sports like tennis and golf if you play those.

What is your advice for people visiting family in nursing homes? What should the home be doing when they arrive?

So I think that the most Well, as you know, as you alluded to the most vulnerable populations are the people in elderly homes and we really have to protect them. I'm hopeful that we'll be getting to a situation relatively soon where we have a kind of point of care testing that is technically feasible so that people visiting individuals in these homes can be tested right before they go and visit. And once we get to that, it'll open up all kinds of freedoms that we haven't really had for this epidemic at all, including visiting elderly loved ones in nursing homes.

When would you feel comfortable going to eat at a restaurant?

So outside is obviously better for the reasons I've alluded to. And I want to say that I'm speaking on behalf of myself and, and really my wife, both of us have been working through this. We understand that there are people who have not been working at all, and so they may be more cautious, but I would be comfortable going to a restaurant now and sitting outside. As for sitting inside the restaurant, I'd like to see a few more weeks at least have continued down-trending numbers before making that commitment.

When would you go back to exercise at the gym?

So the gym is riskier more for the crowds than it is for the surfaces. I think the surfaces as we've learned, well, theoretically a place where you can catch the virus, they're not likely to be a common cause of catching the virus. Provided that when [people use] hand sanitizers and wipes and the gym is not crowded, I would not think that the gym would be a highly risky place. However, a very crowded gym, where you're packed together and exercising right next to someone who's breathing heavily during, you know, their 45-minute workout and your 45-minute workout could be a risky situation, but not from the surfaces themselves.

A lot of gyms are setting up their weights and some equipment out in the parking lot and distancing people. 

That's a very good, good approach.

What about airplanes?

One thing that most people don't believe when I tell them this is that the air in airplanes is actually not recirculated indefinitely. It's actually, you have a lot of air exchange. So the primary risk of flying in airplanes is that you're going to be seated right near somebody who has an infection -- it's not that the air itself inside the airplane is dangerous. In fact, the air is probably ventilated more in an airplane that it is in many workplaces. So the airplanes themselves do not concern me provided that the jets are not packed full. I know that they're going to [try] to make a commitment to that the airplanes are not full. Most people who have flown say that they're even very far from full. So the airplanes themselves do not intrinsically concern me, what concerns me is perhaps getting in a crowded situation boarding, or being in a place where you can't avoid the public transportation system and that's crowded, but flying itself probably is likely to be safe. I would like people on the planes to be wearing masks. I think that's a good idea.

So many families had to delay the large weddings this spring. When do you think it'll be safe to go to a big wedding again?

Really excellent question and one for which I can't, unfortunately, give an accurate answer or a good prediction. It really does depend on what the case trajectory is like over the next several months. I have friends and family who have had to delay their weddings, I think it's best to delay until we can be sure to have a safe celebration.

Is it OK to go out with someone who you don't know well?

As we kind of get out into society more and you know, people who are single and want to date, it is understandable that they want to get together with individuals. I think as long as the groups are very small, that it's relatively low risk right now because the number of new cases is declined. I wouldn't recommend, at this point, gathering with a large group of people who you're not friends with. You want to expand your social circle with relatively small increments, not increase all at once.

Can people stop wearing face coverings outside? Like while sitting at the beach?

My perspective as an infectious disease specialist is that wearing masks outside really is probably not necessary unless you're very close to someone else. That's kind of contrary to what you kind of are hearing and part of the reason is that we want people to wear masks outside, if only to send the signal that we support the use of masks as an infection control strategy for indoor use -- that's where it really matters. So I say to people, you don't need to yell at the jogger going by, at the bike rider going by if he or she's not wearing a mask. And the same is true if you're sitting on the beach with your family, you don't need to wear a mask either. It's really more for if you're going up to the snack bar and you're going to be close together with another person,

What's the one question you want people to ask themselves when they're making these decisions in the days and weeks ahead?

One important question is how at risk am I of getting COVID-19 that would severely harm my health? And I would say in particular, it's the older individuals with comorbid medical conditions. I know that that younger people can get very sick from this also, but the people who are really suffering and are, by and large, older people with underlying medical problems, and they're the ones we really need to protect. So before entering into a situation, that's potentially risky, if you fall into that group, really think twice about whether you need to be in that situation. And I'm really not talking about going to the grocery store, because I don't think that's a very risky activity. I'm not talking about taking a walk outside. I'm talking about, you know, deciding, for example, that yes, I'm going to be one of the first people to eat indoors at a restaurant, maybe you should put that off if you're following one of those groups.