We remember being assured at one time that the chance of getting COVID-19 from passing another person on the sidewalk was infinitesimal. Despite that, a lot of municipalities are mandating masks outdoors regardless of vaccination status, but even Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said the mandate didn’t cover “fleeting encounters” like passing on the sidewalk. Now the Daily Mail is reporting that researchers working in India have found that the coronavirus can spread further if there’s a breeze, so masks are recommended outdoors, especially on windy days.

The Mail reports:

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay simulated just how far the coronavirus can spread in both calm and windy conditions.

Results showed there was an ‘increased infection risk’ even if there was just a small gust of five miles per hour.

Lead author Professor Amit Agrawal said: ‘We recommend wearing masks outdoors, particularly in breezy conditions.’

The study concludes that even a small breeze of five miles per hour in the same direction someone is coughing increases how far the virus spreads by 20 percent.

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Good thing we’ve got little school kids encased in plexiglass boxes for lunch.

You’d think.

We’d thought from media reports that the political party most represented by outdoor crowds was the best indicator of a superspreader event.

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