Asked and answered: What readers want to know about coronavirus

The Washington Post Staff

Updated April 19 at 4:25 p.m.

The data in this story was last updated on Nov. 6, 2020.

The novel coronavirus is changing how we live our lives. Since the spring, The Washington Post has catalogued and organized 13,202 questions about the pandemic from our readers. Using those questions, we created this guide below. Many of the questions fall into common themes, and this guide provides links to past reporting in those frequently referenced topic areas.

This guide is no longer being updated as of Friday, November 6. For the latest reporting on the coronavirus pandemic, please go here. You can also sign up to get daily updates on the virus to your inbox. Thank you for reading.

Featured question

“I live in Washington, D.C., and I’ve seen clear tents or ‘pods’ being set up outside of restaurants to continue the outdoor dining into the cooler months. Are these safe? Even though it’s technically dining outdoors, with the door zippered it seems you have created an indoor environment. As much as I want local restaurants to say afloat, this just seems like a loophole and ultimately a similar risk to indoor dining.”

—Anna from Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, there is no right answer here, but there are different levels of risk to be aware of before going into one of these spaces.

These “pods” can be an effective way to reduce your exposure to other diners — provided it is one table per bubble, said Paul Sax, clinical director of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “From just a mathematical basis, it’s safer than dining in a restaurant, where you have, potentially, exposure to multiple other people,” he said.

However, when it comes to exposure to diners within your pod, you’re exactly right. While the bubbles are physically out in the open air, enclosing people inside without adequate ventilation may be akin to “creating indoor dining outdoors,” said Wafaa El-Sadr, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at Columbia University.

That means it is possible for the droplets people produce when they’re talking or breathing to build up inside the bubble, said Linsey Marr, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech who studies airborne transmission of infectious diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus can be transmitted through tiny droplets and particles that hang in the air for extended periods, especially in poorly ventilated indoor spaces.

If you do choose to dine in one of the bubbles, your level of risk largely depends on who you’re dining with and the safety measures you all take. There are things you and your table can to do reduce your risk, such as making sure there is airflow within the space, by keeping one side of the tent open, for instance, practicing good hand hygiene and wearing your mask when you aren’t eating or drinking. These measures will also help protect your servers.

—Allyson Chiu, Washington Post reporter

The Post has collected 0 new questions in the last 14 days. Categories are organized by frequency of most recent questions. Change in interest is based on questions asked in the last 4 weeks.

Methodology

Wondering how this works? Here’s an explanation:

Tell The Post what you want to know about the virus.

Reporters are interested in any questions about the virus, but it’s helpful to ask a question that addresses a common dilemma caused by the pandemic. You can also ask about how something works, such as contact tracing, antibody tests or respirator masks. If you’re comfortable doing so, please explain why you’re asking the question and how the answer may affect your life.

A Post journalist will read your question.

We’re reading every query and categorizing questions into topic areas, such as “masks,” “stay-at-home” or “symptoms.” The categories help us understand what topics people may have the most questions about and how that has changed over time. A reporter may also email or call you to get more context regarding your submission.

We’ll send questions to different parts of the newsroom.

When we notice trends or find a question worth answering on its own, we’ll send those submissions to the appropriate team in the newsroom.

A reader’s question may inform reporting efforts that are already underway. In some cases, a question will become the basis for an entire article. If we answer your question directly, we’ll email you.

About

Curated by Teddy Amenabar, Eliza Goren, Tom Johnson, Steven Johnson and Nia Decaille. Edited by Everdeen Mason. Designed and developed by Jake Crump. Illustrated by Luerat Satichob/iStock.