Questions and answers on COVID-19: Various

Sport

1. What is the risk of contracting COVID-19 while exercising?

There is a risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 infection while exercising for both athletes and coaches, particularly in settings where athletes train in groups, engage in contact sports, share equipment or use common areas, including locker rooms.

Transmission could occur through direct contact with an infected individual, indirect exposure to the virus through a contaminated object or via droplets (including aerosols) from an infected individual.

Nevertheless, it is important to remain active during the COVID-19 pandemic, while respecting physical distancing and personal hygiene recommendations. People should not exercise if they have symptoms of COVID-19 such as a cough, fever or difficulty breathing.

Food

1. What is the risk of COVID-19 infection from food products?

Coronaviruses in humans mostly spread through inhalation of respiratory fluids. There is no evidence to suggest that handling food or consuming food is associated with COVID-19. The risk of infection via this route is therefore considered very low, although it cannot be completely excluded.

Basic hygienic precautions should be taken to prevent food-related infections, including washing hands after the handling of food packaging and before preparing and consuming food.

Animals

1. What is the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection from animals or animal products imported from affected areas?

There is no evidence that any of the animals or animal products authorised for entry into the EU pose a risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection to EU citizens.

2. What is the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection from contact with pets and other animals in the EU?

Current research links SARS-CoV-2 to certain types of bats as the original source, but does not exclude other animals as intermediate links. Several types of coronaviruses can infect animals and be transmitted to other animals and humans.

The role played by pets and farm animals in the epidemiology and transmission of COVID-19 is currently unknown. Dogs and cats have both been reported as being infected by their owners and some other animals (e.g. ferrets and hamsters) can also become infected. However, current evidence indicates that it is very unlikely that household pets play any role in spreading the virus.

Outbreaks in small, farmed animals (minks) have been documented all over the world, including in Europe (the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain) and the United States, as well as among workers at affected farms. The risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from minks to humans is greatly increased when there are large numbers of infected animals in small spaces. Cases of infected humans spreading the mink-related SARS-CoV-2 variant further in the human population have been reported in the EU/EEA.

Other farm animals do not seem to be affected by SARS-CoV-2.

As a general precaution, it is always wise to observe basic principles of hygiene, such as frequent handwashing when in contact with animals.

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Surfaces and objects

1. Can SARS-CoV-2 be transmitted by touching contaminated surfaces or objects?

All objects can potentially be contaminated with live SARS-CoV-2 virus through virus-containing particles from an infectious person, implying that people can be infected with SARS-CoV-2 through contact with surfaces.

However, evidence indicates that the risk of getting SARS-CoV-2 from surfaces is low.

Rather, people are usually infected with SARS-CoV-2 through exposure to virus-infected particles that carry infectious virus when talking, singing or generally spending time in the same closed space as an infected person.

On most surfaces, infectious virus will disappear within 72 hours. In most situations, cleaning surfaces with soap or detergent is enough to remove the risk of infection.