Flatten
the Curve!
Written
by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel
No matter how tempting the waves may
be now – or your favorite beach jogging or bike trail – it's important to stay
inside.
Lives depend on it. Yours and the people
around you.
The ocean may seem vast and open,
but when surfers in the lineup go after the same waves everyone gets jammed
together. What's more, experts are finding that even with six-feet of
separation a cough or sneeze can travel farther than that...and virus-infected
aerosol droplets can linger in the air.
Kim Prather, an atmospheric chemist at San Diego's Scripps Institution
of Oceanography, says, "The beach is one of the most dangerous places to
be now. People should refrain from surfing, swimming, walking or biking along
the coast."
Prather describes the ocean as
"a hot spot for pathogens that continuously ejects particles back into the
atmosphere." And when the wind is blowing the virus can remain airborne
and travel farther than it was initially thought. This is why we need to avoid the beach now.
To beat the coronavirus, we need to flatten
the curve – reducing and spreading out the incidence of new infections so
that health care professionals have the time and tools they need to fight it.
Recognizing how important this is,
the Surfrider Foundation is calling on surfers to "Stay Home, Shred
Later."
Skipping waves and staying inside is what it takes to get us back on board.
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Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to
this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them
at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to
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