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Hi, My Brother, Who Is 70, Wants To Come Up
Question: Hi, my brother, who is 70, wants to come up from XXXXXXX to visit our mother, who is 98 and lives with my husband and me. My husband and I are 69 years old. My brother plans to drive and only stop to sleep at a rest stop or get gas. He plans to wear plastic gloves and a mask and use sanitizer. We were going to make him stay in the driveway and have my Mom sit in the open garage and both wear masks. I am very nervous about letting him come up. I don't think it's a good idea. We live in a ranch house in a neighborhood. Our county in northern Illinois has only 18 confirmed cases of COVID-19. I'm still not sure it's a good idea given they don't know about whether this virus can be transmitted if airborne. Please let me know your thoughts, and facts you may have. Thanks.
Brief Answer:
There are risks involved in this situation
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks for using 'Ask a Doctor'. There is still much that is not known about COVID-19, including how airborne the virus is; there is some evidence that it may be able to travel farther than initially thought. Also, it is known that people are infectious before they have symptoms, so the lack of a cough or fever is not necessarily reassuring that someone does not have the virus. We also know that for older patients, the virus is very dangerous. That being said, if your brother has not had any potential exposures in the past 2 weeks, and he is going to drive by himself, without any contact with anyone else, wearing gloves and mask, then I would consider the risk to be very low, though it would not be zero.
Whether or not he should come now or wait until later would be a personal decision between all of you, depending on how important it is for him to visit your mother. If it is important, again, with all the precautions you describe, I think the risk is very low and would be acceptable. The only thing I would want to make sure is that he has not had any potential exposures in the past 2 weeks, and if so, to wait until it has been 2 weeks before traveling.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any other questions about that, and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
There are risks involved in this situation
Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks for using 'Ask a Doctor'. There is still much that is not known about COVID-19, including how airborne the virus is; there is some evidence that it may be able to travel farther than initially thought. Also, it is known that people are infectious before they have symptoms, so the lack of a cough or fever is not necessarily reassuring that someone does not have the virus. We also know that for older patients, the virus is very dangerous. That being said, if your brother has not had any potential exposures in the past 2 weeks, and he is going to drive by himself, without any contact with anyone else, wearing gloves and mask, then I would consider the risk to be very low, though it would not be zero.
Whether or not he should come now or wait until later would be a personal decision between all of you, depending on how important it is for him to visit your mother. If it is important, again, with all the precautions you describe, I think the risk is very low and would be acceptable. The only thing I would want to make sure is that he has not had any potential exposures in the past 2 weeks, and if so, to wait until it has been 2 weeks before traveling.
I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any other questions about that, and I would be glad to discuss it with you further.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Thank you, Doctor. That's the worry, though. We have to hope he hasn't been exposed, given that he's traveling across several states and using restrooms at gas stations. And I have read that the experts just don't know if the virus can be airborne and transmitted that way (aerosol I believe it's called.). Guess we'll have to pray for protection when he comes, and keep him far from my Mom, with all of us wearing masks. Thanks again.
Brief Answer:
Difficult to eliminate risk completely
Detailed Answer:
Yes, if it is important, I think the precautions you have listed are the right ones to take, and again, I think with those precautions, the risk will be very low. You are right about there being some discussion about whether the virus is transmitted by aerosol or not, initially they said it was only transmitted by large droplets, which means it could only travel about 2 meters, but there are some reports that it spread by fine, small droplets, which can travel much farther. We also don't know how long it can live on surfaces and how much transmission is happening by that route.
Please take care and let me know if you have any other questions, I'd be glad to help any way I can.
Difficult to eliminate risk completely
Detailed Answer:
Yes, if it is important, I think the precautions you have listed are the right ones to take, and again, I think with those precautions, the risk will be very low. You are right about there being some discussion about whether the virus is transmitted by aerosol or not, initially they said it was only transmitted by large droplets, which means it could only travel about 2 meters, but there are some reports that it spread by fine, small droplets, which can travel much farther. We also don't know how long it can live on surfaces and how much transmission is happening by that route.
Please take care and let me know if you have any other questions, I'd be glad to help any way I can.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
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