5 Things COVID Experts Personally Won’t Do Right Now In This Latest Surge

“Restaurants and gyms are my sort of two highest-risk categories. I think we saw that early in the pandemic, and I don’t think anything’s changed, because both have the potential to be poorly ventilated spaces where people are often not wearing masks,” Russo said.

That’s why he called restaurants an “Achilles heel” of COVID-19 infection risk. Russo said that earlier in the summer when cases were much lower, he was eating out at restaurants, but he curtailed that activity before his vacation as he waited to get his COVID-19 booster shot.

If you have vulnerable people living with you, you might want to ask more questions at a restaurant.

“My wife and I are major caregivers for a family member who is receiving cancer chemotherapy, so we’re careful about going out to restaurants,” Schaffner said. “When we do, we look for tables that are a bit more separate from the others, and my wife always asks the server whether they are vaccinated.”

Guest said there are times she’s comfortable going to restaurants and times, like when she is preparing to visit her parents, that she is not.

“It’s this balance between going out and doing fun, social things that are really important for our mental health and connection, and then balancing it with, ‘Who am I putting at risk? When am I personally at risk? What do I have available to me to make sure I know that I am not increasing other people’s risk?’” Guest said.

4. They won’t assume they’re COVID-free if the first test comes back negative but they have symptoms.

Testing remains an important part of experts’ strategies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines say to get tested at least five full days after your last exposure, even if you do not have symptoms.

“Sometimes it can take two or three days of symptoms for that test to come up positive. … Use that information to protect other people,” said Dr. Lucy Wilson, a professor in the department of emergency health services at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She advised working remotely or staying home if you’re sick, because “that is helpful, not only for COVID, but for all communicable diseases, especially respiratory.”

Part of being prepared right now means having at-home COVID-19 tests on hand so you don’t need to rush to a pharmacy.

“I make sure I have COVID-19 tests at home. I use them when I know I’ve had an exposure or when I know I’m going somewhere where people might be at increased risk,” Guest said.

And if there are symptoms, these experts don’t rely on just one test. “If I’ve had an unknown exposure, and I feel sick, I want to test, and if it’s negative, I want to retest 24 to 36 hours later,” Guest said.

It’s also helpful to look up the expiration dates on your at-home tests, Wilson said.

“Realize they’ve been extended so that you can go on that FDA site and look at the particular company and the particular test,” she said. “You can even look up the lot numbers on there.”

5. They won’t forget how unpredictable COVID can be.