Texas Medical Association Ranks Activities Posing COVID-19 Risk In Its New Color-Coded Chart

Amid several states reporting a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, the experts at the Texas Medical Association have released a ranked list of activities to explain which of them puts people at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.

They have ranked 37 different activities on a scale of 1-10, with one being the lowest risk and 10 being the highest for contracting COVID-19. In the color-coded chart, green color indicates low-risk activities, yellow color shows moderate-risk activities and red color stands for activities that involve high-risk.

In their new chart, they have ranked something like opening the mail as the lowest risk activity with a score of 1 and going to a bar as the highest risk activity at 9.

Here’s a gist of the ranking:

• Extremely high risk: Attending a huge music concert, going to a sports stadium, going to a bar and attending religious events with more than 500 people
• High risk: Eating at a buffet, hitting the gym, going to amusement parks, and movie theaters
• Moderate to high risk: playing basketball, football, eating inside a restaurant, air travel, attending a wedding or funeral, and going to a hair salon
• Moderate risk: going to a beach, shopping mall, public swimming pool, old age homes, having dinner at another residence or attending a backyard barbecue
• Moderate-low risk: Eating outside a restaurant, sitting in a physician’s waiting room, going to the library, museum or playground, playing golf, walking, running, bike rides, and grocery shopping
• Low risk: playing tennis, going camping, getting restaurant takeout, and pumping gasoline

The committee said the ranking is based on inputs received from its members, assuming that participants were taking enough precautionary measures like washing hands, wearing a mask and, maintaining social distancing.

The physician experts were asked to assign a risk of 1 to 10 to each of these activities using criteria that included proximity to other people, exposure time, personal risk level, and the likelihood of compliance.

The TMA recommended the use of hand sanitizers and frequent handwashing, especially for those who are worried about touching things like mail or gas pumps.

“No matter what they do, it’s best if they stay home if possible, wear a mask and maintain at least 6 feet of distance when they have to go out,” Statesman quoted TMA’s recommendation.