COVID-19 is airborne. What does that mean?
COVID-19 is spread through the air by respiratory droplets and aerosols. Aerosols play a significant role in increasing the infectiousness of the virus. They are tiny droplets that can remain suspended in the air for hours with poor ventilation. Bigger respiratory droplets fall to the ground in seconds and reduce the chance of getting inhaled by a non-infected person.
Let’s say you go to your gym. Maybe you’re going at non-peak hours, where there are not many people around. You may think that you could unmask and use whatever equipment you please. But if a COVID-19 infected person used the gym a few hours ago, their infected aerosols will still remain suspended in the air, especially if the space is poorly ventilated, i.e. with no open windows or fans to circulate air.