The length of time you spend around a person with COVID-19 seems to heavily influence your likelihood of getting sick, according to a recent Nature study that has been peer-reviewed but not fully edited. Most exposures that result in transmission last at least an hour, if not much longer, the researchers say.
Previous studies have shown that people who spend long bouts of time with someone who has COVID-19 are at increased risk of getting infected, particularly if the encounter happens in a small, enclosed space. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also warns that longer COVID-19 exposures are riskier than shorter ones—but the agency has typically said 15 minutes of exposure is the threshold after which there’s a meaningful chance of getting sick. The new study, however, suggests it usually takes even longer for the virus to spread.
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