Risk Questions

The more you know about a person’s specific risks in the last 9 days, the better you can estimate the risk of being in contact with them.

The Option A questions are simpler, but don't provide as many prompts to assist you. The Option B question are more detailed to help you think through various kinds of possible activities.

✅ Option A) The simple Questions

  1. Symptoms now: Do you currently have any new, concerning, or unexplainable COVID symptoms? See symptoms list here →
  2. Symptoms reporting: Are you willing to report any symptoms you develop in the 10 days after we see each other? (If so, please report them to me within 24 hours of them coming on.)
  3. Your risk: In the last 9 days: Who have you been within 6 feet (2 meters) of or shared indoor air space with? (including grocery shopping, housemates, social, work, travel, doctor, exercise, etc.). For each interaction:
    1. How many people were around?
    2. For each of those people: what do you know (or not know) about their specific risks in the last 9 days? (Sometimes you may only know generally (ex: “they are an average person in our area” or “they are a front line worker.”) If it’s someone you know personally, you may be able to ask them the above questions to get a more detailed picture of their current risk level)
    3. Did you explicitly confirm that they have no symptoms before seeing them?
    4. Did they agree to report symptoms in the 10 days after the interaction?
    5. How long did it last (hours/minutes)?
    6. How far apart were you?
    7. What kind of mask were you wearing for each of these activities? (no mask, cotton, cotton with a filter insert, surgical, KN95, N95 with a proper seal, etc.)
    8. What kind of mask were the people you were around wearing?

📝 Option B) The Detailed Questions

Specific questions to help you think through your risk in a more step-by-step manner.

To be most accurate, ask each of these questions for yourself AND for each person you’ve been in contact with (when it’s possible to know their exposure).

In the last 9 days...

  1. Symptoms now: Do you currently have any new, concerning, or unexplainable COVID symptoms? See symptoms list here →

  2. Symptoms reporting: Are you willing to report any symptoms you develop in the 10 days after we see each other? (If so, please report them to me within 24 hours of them coming on.)

  3. Housemates & pod: How many people do you live with (including other people in your “pod” who you see every week indoors, unmasked)?

  4. For each housemate / podmate: how much do you know about their risk? Can you ask them some/all of the questions in this document to get a detailed view of their risk?

    In other words: can you discover who they have been in contact with or shared indoor air space with over the last 9 days. If so, you know a lot more about your current risk. (We recognize it’s odd to be asking all these questions of people, and the fact is the more we know about their activity, the better we are able to all make informed choices to keep each other safe.)

  5. Mask: For any of the interactions below where you were wearing a mask, what kind of mask was it? (no mask, cotton, cotton with a filter insert, surgical, N95/K95, etc.) Also, what kind of mask were other people wearing in these situations?

  6. Social: How many people have you been within shared indoor air space with? Were you/they wearing a mask? What kind of mask? How long were the interactions? How far apart were you? (Don’t need to list outdoor, masked, distance hangouts).

    1. Did you explicitly confirm that they have no symptoms before seeing them?
    2. Did they agree to report symptoms in the 10 days after the interaction?

  7. Grocery: Do you go grocery shopping? (Or does someone in your house?) What kind of mask do you wear? Do you go more than once a week? Are you in the store for more than an hour?

  8. Work: Do you work outside your home? If so, how many people are you within six feet (two meters) of or sharing indoor air space with? Are you wearing a mask? Are the people you see wearing a mask? What kind? How far apart are you on average? What do you know about the risk profiles of the people you’re in contact with?

  9. Travel: Have you used public transit? Have you been on an airplane? Have you been in a car or rideshare with people outside your pod? How many people were within 3-15 feet (1-5 meters) of you?

  10. Medical: Have you had any medical or health-related appointments?

  11. Exercise: Have you been to the gym, pool, etc? If so, how many people were within 15 feet (5 meters) of you in the main area? How many people were within 15 feet (5 meters) of you in the locker room, and for how long?

  12. Sharing indoor air space in any other ways (other stores/buildings, etc): Have you shared indoor air space with anyone else in the last 9 days? For how long? Were you wearing a mask? Were they? What kind of mask was it?