9:01 p.m. ET, May 7, 2020
Here are your questions, answered by health experts
Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner, joined CNN's ongoing town hall to talk about the novel coronavirus pandemic and answer some viewers' questions.
What can I do to reduce my own risk? States are reopening but the risk hasn't changed, Wen said. This means people should still follow the official guidance: Wash your hands often, stay home, practice social distancing and avoid gatherings -- and work remotely if it's an option. Wear a mask, and try to avoid public transportation.
Is swimming at a lake safer than in a pool? It's not really about what kind of water you're swimming in -- it's your proximity with other people, said Wen.
"If there are other people around you and they can breathe on you or cough on you and there are surfaces that you could be touching, then you could get coronavirus that way," she said.
Should I wear gloves to the grocery store? The key thing is to avoid touching your face, with or without gloves on, Wen said. If you wash your hands often, be mindful of the things you touch, and avoid touching your face. You don't necessarily need to wear gloves out, she said.
I live near a Tyson Foods plant. If an infected worker there is processing meat, can that meat become tainted and pass Covid-19 onto me? No. This is a respiratory virus, said CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
"So really the way you're going to become infected is if someone is putting the virus out in the air around you and you get exposed that way or touch a surface. You don't eat this virus and get it that way," he said.