Riskiest activities during Covid-19 pandemic

Eating at a buffet, working out at the gym, going to an amusement park, movie theatre, music concert, sports stadium, bar are the riskiest things you can do during a pandemic, according to a chart from the Texas Medical Association (TMA). 

The chart, explaining behaviours that put you at risk of getting Covid-19 also placed attending religious services with more than 500 worshippers as "High Risk". 

The association made the chart at a time when countries across the world are gradually lifting lockdown in an attempt to save the economy. 

According to the chart, going to a hair salon or barbershop, eating at a restaurant, attending a wedding or funeral, travelling by plane, playing basketball, football, hugging or shaking hands when greeting a friend is considered "Moderate-High" risk. 

However, restaurant takeouts and sports like tennis, going camping, opening the letterbox, pumping gasoline at the gas station are considered low risk. 

While the chart places restaurant take-outs as low risk, it discourages having dinner at someone else's house by placing it in the "Moderate Risk" section. This section also includes tasks such as - attending a backyard barbecue, going to a beach, shopping at a mall, sending kids to school, camp or daycare, working a week in an office building, swimming in a public pool and visiting an elderly relative or friend in their home. 

According to the chart, some of the most essential tasks were marked as "Moderate-low" risk. These are - grocery shopping, going for a walk, jogging, or bike riding with others, playing golf, sitting in a doctor's waiting room, going to a library or museum, eating at a restaurant, staying at a hotel for two nights, walking in a busy downtown area and spending an hour at a playground. 

Doctors from the TMA Covid-19 Task Force and the TMA Committee on Infectious Diseases ranked the activities based on the likelihood of participants' ability to observe social distancing.