Caught Covid climbing?

I want to hear stories if you or someone you know got coronavirus and thinks it probably came from the crag, climbing gym, or from a climbing partner. Looking for data, not theories or arguments.

My story: I haven't gotten Covid, but I might have narrowly dodged it. I was supposed to climb in mid-March with one of my regular partners. She begged off because she had a slight cough, and awareness about Covid transmission was becoming a thing. She thought it was probably nothing but wanted to be on the safe side. She has been battling cycling coronavirus symptoms for about two months now. She thinks it's something like this: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/15/weird-hell-professor-advent-calendar-covid-19-symptoms-paul-garner  Yes, this is not the same thing as catching it randomly from strangers or holds at the crag.

ETA - It's now a few weeks out from many states "reopening" and lots of climbers getting out climbing. Still curious if anyone thinks they have caught Covid while climbing or from a climbing partner they don't live with. Also, my climbing partner is still sick with coronavirus symptoms. She has had periods where she thought she was getting better, then got walloped again.

ETA June 26 - Here we go with cases rising and gyms reopening. Still curious how it is or isn't being transmitted in a climbing context.

ETA July 17 - Check check. I still wanna know. Yes, my partner still has symptoms. Four months now and it has a name: long-haul coronavirus. 

chris tregge wrote: Battling cycling symptoms that might be covid or she has been tested and she has covid, and has prolonged symptoms?

She and her medical provider think she has Covid based on her symptoms although the one test she had came back negative. The test has a high error rate, and they have not bothered to test her again since it has been so long since the onset of symptoms. The treatment would be the same anyway: stay home, self-isolate, call the doctor if symptoms worsen. She is normally very athletic and active and this thing came out of the blue and walloped her. If it's not Covid, it's a great mimic with wild timing. 

Ahhhh,  I thought this was about being busted breaking quarantine...or climbing while contagious,  as in caught “covid climbing”
Rather than caught covid by climbing.

L Kap wrote: I want to hear stories if you or someone you know got coronavirus and thinks it probably came from the crag or from a climbing partner. Looking for data, not theories or arguments.

Your question is asking for anecdotal evidence yet you say you want data not stories.   I am afraid any response you get will be will be just that unless you got tested, tested the crag surfaces for virus and have a partner with known COVID.  

I think you are much more likely getting it sharing a car ride to the crag with your partner than actually climbing outside, even in fairly close proximity outside.  

I didn't climb with a regular partner for a couple weeks in march as he thought he might have it or be high risk.  I've been climbing with him since and have not 'caught covid climbing'.

Mark Pilate wrote: Ahhhh,  I thought this was about being busted breaking quarantine...or climbing while contagious,  as in caught “covid climbing”
Rather than caught covid by climbing.

I am not above using ambiguous thread titles to increase visibility. Clickbait is real. 

Deducing a parsimonious transmission chain is simple in the scenario of a rare disease or with confined subjects (prisoners, nursing home, excetera).

With the sero prevalence of sars cov2 around 5% in the US, and up to 25% in New York City, trying to figure out transmission chains in freely moving individuals is more or less impossible.

I guess the only datapoint we have that's useful is the half-life of the virus on select surfaces. This data point suggests fomite based transmission is theoretically possible. Don't think I've seen it documented to occur in real life, let alone from a climbing hold.

MP wrote: Deducing a parsimonious transmission chain is simple in the scenario of a rare disease or with confined subjects (prisoners, nursing home, excetera).

With the sero prevalence of sars cov2 around 5% in the US, and up to 25% in New York City, trying to figure out transmission chains in freely moving individuals is more or less impossible.

I guess the only datapoint we have that's useful is the half-life of the virus on select surfaces. This data point suggests fomite based transmission is theoretically possible. 

Mmhmmm yes, indubitably, I concur. Jolly good chap.

L Kap wrote:

She and her medical provider think she has Covid based on her symptoms although the one test she had came back negative. The test has a high error rate, and they have not bothered to test her again since it has been so long since the onset of symptoms. The treatment would be the same anyway: stay home, self-isolate, call the doctor if symptoms worsen. She is normally very athletic and active and this thing came out of the blue and walloped her. If it's not Covid, it's a great mimic with wild timing. 

She should get antibody tested at this point. 

Thomas DeMasters wrote:

Mmhmmm yes, indubitably, I concur. Jolly good chap.

Sorry for giving an informed opinion 

Kevin Mokracek wrote:

Your question is asking for anecdotal evidence yet you say you want data not stories.   I am afraid any response you get will be will be just that unless you got tested, tested the crag surfaces for virus and have a partner with known COVID.  

I think you are much more likely getting it sharing a car ride to the crag with your partner than actually climbing outside, even in fairly close proximity outside.  

I said I don't want theories or arguments. I am asking for anecdotal data / stories. I understand that no one is going out there with lab equipment. I want to know if there are any climbers here who think they caught Covid while climbing. Such a person would of course be making a best guess based on that individual's experiences, potential exposure vectors, and possibly contact tracing.

I agree that the most likely way to get Covid while climbing is from your partner, especially if you carpool and are talking and breathing in a confined space together for a few hours. The other possibility that seems at least reasonably risky to me is catching it from other people at the crag who are infected and refuse to keep their distance when you are unable to avoid them, e.g. someone who climbs up, raps down, or squeezes in to share a small belay ledge with you and is unmasked. But those are just guesses. 

L Kap wrote:

I said I don't want theories or arguments. I am asking for anecdotal data / stories. 

The guy across from me at work coughed this morning in the office. I told him he probably has it. But he's 12 feet away,  so I'm probably fine. Better to be out climbing I suspect. 

MP wrote: Deducing a parsimonious transmission chain is simple in the scenario of a rare disease or with confined subjects (prisoners, nursing home, excetera).

With the sero prevalence of sars cov2 around 5% in the US, and up to 25% in New York City, trying to figure out transmission chains in freely moving individuals is more or less impossible.

I don't know about the rest of the country, but in Colorado we are still under the "safer at home" guidelines which means most of us are not freely moving and mingling. Here in Boulder, folks are required to keep a 6-foot distance and wear a mask in all public spaces if we can't stay more than 6' apart. The upshot is that we're not crossing paths with tons of people, and most of the people we do cross paths with are masked. If I were to go climbing, that would be the closest I'd be to another human being who doesn't live in my household for more than a second or two since March.

I guess the only datapoint we have that's useful is the half-life of the virus on select surfaces. This data point suggests fomite based transmission is theoretically possible. Don't think I've seen it documented to occur in real life, let alone from a climbing hold.

Everything I've seen seems to indicate that you are much more likely to get Covid from being in close quarters with another breathing person than you are to pick it up from a surface.

The Access Fund did a webinar a few days ago featuring an MD who specializes in tropical infectious diseases and is also a climber, Dr. Paul Pottinger. His advice was that outdoor climbing is safer than indoor, don't carpool, wear a mask if you have to be up close to someone such as when you are doing belay checks at the base or sharing a belay station, and practice good hand hygiene by using hand sanitizer before/after every pitch. Dr. Pottinger's piece starts at 9:20 or so, and there's also some good Q and A at the end around minute 53 or 54. I think Pottinger probably knows his stuff, but I still want to hear what is happening in the community. 

https://vimeo.com/418690906?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Last+night+s+webinar+and+how+you+can+make+an+impact&utm_campaign=COVID+Webinar+Follow-up+%7C+Leads

Mark Pilate wrote: Ahhhh,  I thought this was about being busted breaking quarantine...or climbing while contagious,  as in caught “covid climbing”
Rather than caught covid by climbing.

Exactly! That thread would have been a lot more fun.

MP wrote:

Sorry for giving an informed opinion 

Like, this is Murica? We don’t, like, like informed opinions, kay?

The CDC just released information (changed their guidance) stating that fomite transmission is unlikely. You're unlikely to get the virus from touching the rock, rope or gear. Climb on.

https://news.yahoo.com/cdc-coronavirus-mainly-spreads-through-persontoperson-contact-and-does-not-spread-easily-on-contaminated-surfaces-153317029.html

https://www.kron4.com/health/coronavirus/cdc-covid-19-spreads-mainly-person-to-person-not-easily-in-other-ways/

https://nypost.com/2020/05/20/cdc-now-says-coronavirus-does-not-spread-easily-on-surfaces/

The fear of the wolf is much bigger than the actual wolf.
There is a silver lining:  when there is actually pandemic that kills young and healthy people, we will be much more prepared. 

Come on, folks, let's not drift too far. There are a ton of threads on MP where you can chat generally about Covid. I am looking for stories by people who think they might have actually caught Covid while climbing. If there aren't any such stories, that's useful to know. 

trailridge wrote: The fear of the wolf is much bigger than the actual wolf.
There is a silver lining:  when there is actually pandemic that kills young and healthy people, we will be much more prepared. 

Yeah, Americans might start washing their hands more often for sure. Not climbers though, it fucks up the good skin too much.

L Kap wrote: Come on, folks, let's not drift too far. There are a ton of threads on MP where you can chat generally about Covid. I am looking for stories by people who think they might have actually caught Covid while climbing. If there aren't any such stories, that's useful to know. 

I don't think you are going to find many stories, COVID while relatively easy to catch is still rare to catch.   Climbers it seems are thankfully taking the threat seriously and with minimal precautions like even just driving to the crag solo and being mindful about not talking right into one another's faces while at belays even if you aren't wearing a mask will be enough to prevent most transmissions.   I wear a buff around my neck for the sun and when I arrive at a belay and will be in close quarters with my partner I slide the buff up over my nose and mouth.   I also use liquid chalk with high alcohol content in addition to regular chalk, can't hurt and might help kill virus at least more than not using it.   I also keep hand sanitizer hand for post climb.   I'm taking the threat seriously but I'm not paranoid about it.   

MP wrote:

Sorry for giving an informed opinion 

That's what you get for using multisyllabic words on MP!