Coronavirus on a crag that is in the sun

So the Department of Homeland Security has done a study saying that the Coronavirus can live in the sun for only two minutes.  Of course to a climber this gets us thinking that a crag that has been in the sun for a few minutes might be safe to climb on.  This may provide some evidence that if you could work out the social distancing you could safely climb.  This was presented at the briefing where Trump overshadowed the study with his suggestion of using disinfectant internally.  I thought the most interesting part of that study was they the virus is killed in the sun in two minutes.  I guess we could just not climb for a year or two until a vaccine is available but that would be a shame if there is a way to do it safely. now  I am sure people have opinions on this so feel free to add your thoughtful comments.  Thanks.  Here is the link to the information I am referring to:  https://heavy.com/news/2020/04/william-bill-bryan-dhs/

summer climbing in the sun....awesome...

sunlight doesn't kill all the viruses it shines on in 2 mins.  the linked info made clear that the virus HALFLIFE is 2 mins.  that means if there are 200 viruses active (aka "alive") on a sunny rock surface, after 2 mins, 100 would remain active.  after another 2 mins at 4 mins total elapsed time, 50 would remain.  after 6 mins total, 25 would remain, and so on

sticking strictly to that, there would still be that one last active virus on that sunny rock for a quite long time.  if you've always had lousy luck in your life, yes, you will get infected by that lone long surviving virus, and spread it on to infect everyone else

You may have to just decide for yourself.

Sean wrote: sunlight doesn't kill all the viruses it shines on in 2 mins.  the linked info made clear that the virus HALFLIFE is 2 mins.  that means if there are 200 viruses active (aka "alive") on a sunny rock surface, after 2 mins, 100 would remain active.  after another 2 mins at 4 mins total elapsed time, 50 would remain.  after 6 mins, 25 would remain, and so on

sticking strictly to that, there would still be that one last active virus on that sunny rock for a quite long time.  if you've always had lousy luck in your life, yes, you will get infected by that lone long surviving virus, and spread it on to infect everyone else

My (admittedly limited) understanding of pathology is that exposure to "one virus" is a lot different than "200 viruses".

we're talking about one very unlucky person tho

Sean wrote: sunlight doesn't kill all the viruses it shines on in 2 mins.  the linked info made clear that the virus HALFLIFE is 2 mins.  that means if there are 200 viruses active (aka "alive") on a sunny rock surface, after 2 mins, 100 would remain active.  after another 2 mins at 4 mins total elapsed time, 50 would remain.  after 6 mins, 25 would remain, and so on

sticking strictly to that, there would still be that one last active virus on that sunny rock for a quite long time.  if you've always had lousy luck in your life, yes, you will get infected by that lone long surviving virus, and spread it on to infect everyone else

uhh......no. If we got infected by every single virus that we came into contact with (billions per day), we would all be dead. Using the halflife, we can determine that after 10 minutes, about 3% of the original virus remains infectious. In addition, if you show up to the crag at say 1 or 2pm, that crag has already had HOURS of sun as long as it's angled right. And it also doesn't matter at all how many viruses you touch or how many there are on the rock as long as you use hand sanitizer, don't touch your face, and avoid climbing with open wounds (scabs are fine).  

My (admittedly limited) understanding of pathology is that exposure to "one virus" is a lot different than "200 viruses".

The minute I heard Bryant present data on virus life in sunlight I knew many would take it as a green light to get out climbing.  So, this is definitely not an opinion on whether "to climb or not to climb", just a fact.   Even if a crag is in direct sunlight many of the holds our hands touch aren't.  i.e. cracks, pockets, flakes etc.  Just something to consider.

Considering the amount of pigeon, swallow and bat shit you inhale while climbing at a typical crag, Corona is among the least of my worries. 

You guys are not going to get sick by grabbing a hold someone with Corona used a month ago or even an hour ago.  You might from driving to the crag, stopping for gas, walking past a bunch of people in the parking lot, standing around at the base of the crag listening to music while playing with your crag dog, etc.

Moe Lester wrote:

... (scabs are fine).  

You seem to know a lot about scabs.

Ted Pinson wrote: You guys are not going to get sick by grabbing a hold someone with Corona used a month ago or even an hour ago.  You might from driving to the crag, stopping for gas, walking past a bunch of people in the parking lot, standing around at the base of the crag listening to music while playing with your crag dog, etc.

And you know this how?

Drove through Boulder Canyon earlier today and there was an INSANE amount of people out climbing. God forbid people make an effort to climb somewhere remote, on a nice Saturday around noontime nonetheless. Nah, people gotta jump in the conga line and hangdog their 5.10a project like they are some kind of hero. Unbelievable.

Ivan Brick wrote: Nah, people gotta jump in the conga line and hangdog their 5.10a project like they are some kind of hero. Unbelievable.

What makes you think they aren't heroes?

Thanks for the good laugh Bill. Be well. 

Bill Czajkowski wrote:

You seem to know a lot about scabs.

indian creek

Ivan Brick wrote: Drove through Boulder Canyon earlier today and there was an INSANE amount of people out climbing. God forbid people make an effort to climb somewhere remote, on a nice Saturday around noontime nonetheless. Nah, people gotta jump in the conga line and hangdog their 5.10a project like they are some kind of hero. Unbelievable.

So this is exactly the problem.  Is it theoretically possible to safely climb in a remote crag right now taking necessary precautions?  Yes.  Is this how the masses will interpret it?

Mark Wyss wrote:

And you know this how?

Aside from applying what we already know about infectious disease transmission and virii?  There’s this:

Ted Pinson wrote:

Aside from applying what we already know about infectious disease transmission and virii?  There’s this:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.04.20053058v1

90% of what you said was correct, however, the one-hour survival on a hard surface is a stretch.  Climbing gyms with sweaty handholds and people breathing hard all over them on the route is going to be a problem.  Not to mention door handles going in and out of yoga, weights or cardio rooms is dangerous.  It is most likely going to stick around on ropes, biners.  My guess is there aren't too many studies out there focusing on chalky, sweaty handholds.  Going to a gym now is a bad move.  They are going to become Petri dishes in due time. 

Salamanizer suchoski wrote: Considering the amount of pigeon, swallow and bat shit you inhale while climbing at a typical crag, Corona is among the least of my worries.