The Odds of Getting COVID From Your Housemate Are ‘About a Coin Flip’
By this point, the pandemic saga has introduced us to a cast of recurring characters. Among them are the Chill Friend, who is totally over COVID precautions at this point, and the Unlucky Acquaintance, who has had COVID three times and brings it up whenever someone else falls sick. And then there is the Person Whose Roommate Has COVID. You know the type: They’ll describe, in the hushed tones usually reserved for tragic gossip, how and when their live-in friend, partner, child, or whoever came down with the virus—before interjecting, “But I feel fine! … For now.” Nervous laughter ensues. Whether their house is dealing with a blazing-fever situation or a mild-cough one, Person Whose Roommate Has COVID always has the same underlying worry: Am I next?
The answer can feel like a definitive yes. The perfect conditions to catch the coronavirus might look something like a shared home, where families, friends, or near strangers end up spending lots of time together in confined spaces. Even if they’re not sleeping in the same bedroom, roommates in all their various forms are sitting down at the dinner table together
