Go outside, enjoy the spring weather!

In this time of the coronavirus, many may feel anxious about going out, something that's strongly discouraged by some experts. 

  • "It is dangerous for your health to sit at home, too,” says infection protection expert Johan Giesecke.

  • Go outside, enjoy the spring weather!
    Right now, many are at home in self-elected quarantine and not leaving their homes - something that can actually be detrimental to your health, according to Johan Giesecke, infection protection expert and advisor to the World Health Organization. He has more advice: Go outside and enjoy the spring weather.
    In this time of the coronavirus, many may feel anxious about going out, choosing instead to stay home. This is something that Johan Giesecke strongly discourages.

  • "Take in some fresh air. Bring a friend and walk a meter apart. Don't hug the neighbor. Bring a thermos and sit on a park bench."

  • “There are a lot of people sitting at home, and you shouldn't do that. You should go out and walk in the spring sun. Take in some fresh air. Bring a friend and walk a meter apart. Don't hug the neighbor. Bring a thermos and sit on a park bench. It is dangerous for your health to sit at home, too,” he recently said on Swedish TV. "The spread of the virus outdoors is minor, young kids in Swedish kindergartens spend time outdoors so as not to infect each other."
    Giesecke is a member of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Infectious Hazards (STAG-IH) at WHO. He trained as an infectious disease clinician in Stockholm, Sweden during the 1980s, and from his work with AIDS patients he became interested in the epidemiology of infectious diseases. He received an MSc in epidemiology from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1992, and then worked there as a senior lecturer for a few years. Giesecke then became State Epidemiologist for Sweden (1995-2005), and during a one-year sabbatical in 1999-2000 he led the group working on the revision of the International Health Regulations at WHO HQ. From 2005-2014 he was the first Chief Scientist of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).